Tea for Two
by ariesdragon
Summary: Tea suddenly finds herself in a world of trouble when she begins to develop feelings for both the Kaiba Brothers, and they both begin to have feelings for her. Set Post Pharaoh, when their all adults. MxAxK
1. Dating and Hating

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh.

_Japanese_

_'thoughts'_

"Hey Tea!" Mokuba waved, running towards the blue eyed dancer as she headed towards her dressing room. Tea turned around and let out a gasp as she saw took in the sight of the, handsome young man before her. His long unruly hair was as present as ever, but his eyes were no longer the wide eyed innocent ones of his bygone days as a exuberant young child, he was clearly now a man, from his intimidating height and perfectly sculpted body (he was now 6'1 same as his brother was when he was in high school), to his sparkling eyes and perfectly straight, charming smile. He had on a dark blue business suit, with a white tie, and white rose in his breast pocket. His white button top and ridiculously expensive white patent leather white shoes completed the look.

"Um, hello." Tea said tucking a strand of now long brown hair behind an ear.

"You don't recognize me?" He asked, smiling. Tea quirked up a perfectly manicured eyebrow.

"Should I?" She asked nonchalant, and playfully, while inside going into panic mode, judging by the way he was dressed, he looked extremely important. Didn't her boss say something about his son coming in today?

'Crap, better talk my way out of this.'

"O-of course I recognize you Philip your dad told me all about you, heh heh, he never said your were this good looking though." she said winking. Mokuba burst into laughter confusing the beautiful brunette even further, and she was beautiful with her shapely body, long brown hair, and skimpy dance outfit, (a crimson leotard with a crimson translucent skirt that clung to her body in all the right places, Mokuba noted)

"Its me, Mokuba Kaiba." Mokuba manged between laughs. Tea gave an unladylike like snort and shoved the small boy.

"Its not that funny." She groaned. "And for the record your not that good looking I was just trying to charm my way out of disaster." Tea said, folding her arms across her chest and sticking her nose up in the air mock angrily.

"Well excuse me." Mokuba replied, "but last I checked I was number two on the most eligible bachelors list."

"Your brother probably rigged it."

Mokuba gave a hearty laugh, "Your probably right there is no way he beat me, either that or they gave it to him because of his condition."

"Condition?" Tea said worriedly.

"Yeah, stick up the butt syndrome." Mokuba replied, and with that the two burst into laughter.

"Speaking of which, where is your brother anyway?" Tea asked, this was the first time she had ever seen Mokuba so independent, then again he was probably, she scratched her head to remember, about 18 now.

"He's at work, he wouldn't be caught dead at a ballet."

"What about you, you don't really seem the ballet type?"

"Are you kidding me, a bunch of beautiful women, such as yourself, dancing around scantily clad, twisting themselves into such graceful, and breath taking positions, what's not to love about it?" Mokuba said, checking out one such ballerina as she walked by out the corner of his eye. Tea shook her head and laughed use to those kind of comments having hung around with Yugi, Tristan, and Joey for all those years.

"Hey how about I take you out to dinner and we can catch up on old times?" Mokuba asked excitedly, "I know this great pizza joint."

Tea smiled, Mokuba had certainly turned out to be a great young man, spending time with him was going to be fun.

"Sure, just as long as your brother doesn't mind." She said out of habit, she knew he was older now, but she just couldn't shake away the image of the exuberant little kid he used to be.

Mokuba rolled his eyes and groaned. "He'd never agree to that, besides I don't necessarily tell him everything anymore. C'mon it'll be our little secret." Mokuba said clasping his hands together and smiling, and winking.

Tea shook her head, he still found away to turn on the puppy dog eyes without it looking weird or creepy, how was anybody supposed to say no to a face like that was beyond her. "O.K. Pick me up at 7:00 here's my address, and phone number."

Mokuba took the pieces of paper, and smoothly slipped them into his pocket. "Alright then, see you later." Mokuba said waving goodbye.

* * *

Kaiba roundhouse kicked a workout pad, the blow sending the person holding the pad stumbling backwards. Then he proceeded to punch the pad over and over, letting all of his anger and frustration at the days events with each punch. His hair was damp and stuck to his forehead, beads of sweat rolling down his bare chest as he side kicked the pad again. A black belt still firmly tied to his gi pants, indicating he should have more self control than to send helpless white belts flying stumbling, and falling through out the dojo.

"_Kaiba san_" His instructor barked, trying to get the brunette's attention. "_Kaiba san calm down._" Seeing Kaiba had no intention of stopping, the man deftly grabbed Kaiba's arm, and twisting it sent him down onto the mat arm twisted behind him, knees and other arm on the ground. Kaiba blinked and groaned in pain, before his instructor let him go.

"_What's the problem?_" Kaiba asked rubbing his sore wrist and glaring at the older man, whose bald head and kind brown eyes hid the deadly force that held his hands registered as lethal weapons. He shook his head disapprovingly at the young man, to say Kaiba had talent would be like saying the sky was blue, it went without saying, but he would be a much higher degree of black belt, capable of running his own dojo by now if it wasn't for his attitude problem, he refused to be the one responsible for letting a junk martial artist (someone who thought much too highly of themselves and didn't respect what they had learned at all) run his own school.

"_Kaiba san, such disrespect, you are lucky I don't make you run 50 laps around the dojo right now! However as I can see that something is obviously bothering you, you may go home._" It wasn't a request. Kaiba growled but said nothing as he picked up his gym bag, slinging his towel over his shoulder, he hit the showers then dressed and left the dojo. Walking down the streets of New York City was not nearly as relaxing as walking down Domino, and did nothing to ease his frustration, not that this time, working out usually did it for him, but he was just too ticked off. Growling he stopped in front of a local bookstore with the best coffee in town, and buying a book he ordered a cappuccino and looked for an empty seat, unfortunately the only available seat was a love seat that already had one occupant, some brunette babe whose face he couldn't see. Begrudgingly he sat next to her, silently hoping she'd be too occupied with his book to try to chat, Seto Kaiba did not chat.

Tea feeling someone plop down next to her, looked up from her romance novel surprised to see Seto Kaiba sitting next to her, reading the same book. (A realistic romance novel set in an office space about a young female painter who captures the hearts of two brothers who run their own computer corporation)

"Hi Kaiba, long time no see." Kaiba turned around, took one look at her, face changing contorting in rage, and stood up and left, muttering audibly under his breath. Tea quirked up an eyebrow, she'd never seen Kaiba quite that angry before, and though she didn't particularly care for the young man, she felt it her duty to go see what was wrong, so wordlessly she stood up, smiling when she saw a black, leather wallet on the ground, she raced after him. Kaiba noticed her following him about for about two blocks before he whirled around his anger levels at their highest and faced her.

"_Why are you following me?_" Kaiba growled, literally growled.

Tea jumped back in surprise, before regaining her composure, noticing he had led them into an alley way scared her a little, but swallowing a gulp, she held out his wallet. "You dropped this." she said, Kaiba blinked in confusion, before realizing that a) she was speaking English, since when could she speak English so fluently? And b) he had dropped his wallet, a potential disaster, there were all kinds of important phone numbers and an unlimited credit card in that wallet. Snatching it from her, he turned around to walk away, when she grabbed his arm.

"Kaiba-sama mind telling me what's wrong?" She asked gently. Kaiba snatched his arm away.

"_None of your business._" Kaiba growled before trying to stalk away.

"Something is obviously wrong." Tea said brushing off his rudeness and grabbing his arm. "You can tell me, I promise I won't tell anyone, it'll make you feel better."

"_Even if I were to tell someone, it wouldn't be you Gardner so just leave me the hell alone and get out of my way!_"

Tea put on sugary sweet smile, "O.K. But whatever it is to make you so mad, you look like a wreck, your eye is twitching your face is red and everything, certainly not good for business and the fact that your too embarrassed to talk about must mean your face is red because your humiliated, so I guess that means that the story in F.Y.I. Weekly is true."

"_What story?_" Kaiba growled, stopping.

"I guess I'd be a little embarrassed too, if I was outted in front of millions of people, that's the kind of thing that really isn't anyones business and when you were ready to talk, you would have, don't worry Kaiba sama, I understand." Tea said sugar sweet, smiling as she waved goodbye.

"_WHAT!_" She heard Kaiba thundered, "_How dare you! First off, I have not been outted because there is nothing to out, I am straight!_" Kaiba growled, then he smirked as he crossed his arms over his chest. "_And on that note, thanks for the show._" Kaiba whispered leaning close, Tea gulped as Kaiba reached down, and untucked her blue jean skirt from her underwear. Tea sputtered, unable to squash her blush. However, she wasn't going to let him walk away so smug, without answering her question.

"_Oh Kaiba sama..._" she cooed in a sing song voice"Could you please wait a second."

Kaiba spun on his heels madder than he'd been in a long time, Tea was only the cherry on top a wonderful day and she was now officially on his last nerve. If he wasn't such a gentlemen he would of hit her by now. "_What._" he ground out.

"You didn't answer my question and..." she said walking over to him, she reached down smiling at his shocked face and zipped up his pants. "Your fly said hi."

Kaiba gulped as she pulled away, but she grabbed his arm and leaned real close to his ear, causing his breathing to hitch, "Now then are you going to be a good boy and tell me what's wrong, or are things going to have to get ugly?"

It was then Kaiba realized exactly where her knee was. Senses coming back to him, Kaiba let out a low growl in his frustration his fist clenching and unclenching. "_You do realize I don't take to well to threats._"

"_Just tell me what's wrong and I promise to leave you alone, scouts honor._"

Kaiba was about to retort about his doubts about her having ever been a scout when he thought about who he was talking about.

"_Mokuba, I heard a noise coming from Mokuba's room, I walked in, he was, and he'd been doing it for a while, he was, it was horrifying, my little brother is a, he's a man!_" Kaiba shouted, Tea arched an eyebrow, Mokuba was 18 years old, not a boy anymore, that was obvious just by looking at him.

"What are you...?" She asked, eyebrows scrunching in confusion.

"_There was this girl, a cheerleader, I found the uniform outside the door, and I thought it was for this dumb home economics class they're making him take, but it belonged to **her**._" Kaiba finished, hissing the last part, it was then she realized exactly what Kaiba had witnessed. Bursting into laughter, She keeled over clutching her stomach, tears coming out of her eyes, using Kaiba for support. "It's not funny, this is horrible!" Kaiba snapped.

"That's what your so, ha ha ha, that's just so, CUTE!" She finished wiping a tear from her eye. Kaiba eyebrow arched that was one word that had never been applied to him. Smoldering, sometimes. Good looking, often. But cute, never. "Your on crack." Kaiba stated simply stalking away from her.

"Ah, come back here I didn't mean to laugh!"

"_Its no laughing matter!_"

"Yes it is."

"_And quit speaking English! Your not American, poser._"

"I'm trying to speak it all the time so I lose my accent, and I don't see what that has to do with anything."

"_Just get away from me._"

"Look, it's not so bad..."

"_Not so bad, not so bad, my little brother is a player, a pimp, you should see all the phone numbers he has in this little, black book, it's ridiculous!_"

"He's a very nice, sexy guy, you should be glad you raised such a popular young man!" Tea said trying to control her laughter as Kaiba looked like he was about to hurl at the thought of his brother being 'sexy' which is of course why she'd said it in the first place.

"_It's not just about that! He's going to be staying in New York after I leave, he doesn't want any bodyguards, and he doesn't want Kaiba Corp and he..._" Kaiba blew up angrily, he was tired of everyone laughing at the whole thing, it wasn't funny, how was he supposed to live his life when he didn't know where his life began and his brother's ended. He had always been living his life for Mokuba, and the whole ordeal was so much more life altering than it was for most parents. He wasn't just his brother's parent, but Mokuba was his brother, his best friend, his confidante, his vice president, and his **_whole reason for being_** all rolled up into one person.

"He doesn't want to live with you anymore?" Tea said, sobering up.

"_This has nothing to do with me, it's Mokuba I'm worried about, I don't think he's ready and I don't think I can trust him to do what he's supposed to. He's always wanted parties and friends and girlfriends and such, and he always does everything in excess, eat more sugar, flirts more, has more fun than he should, gets whatever he wants, I'm not sure he's ready for the real world._" Kaiba continued, drowning out her words as if they meant nothing, they had struck quite a nerve, but he'd be damned if he ever showed true weakness in front of Tea, being a strong, concerned parent wasn't weak, being someone who couldn't live their own life at 23? That certainly was. Tea eyed him skeptically.

"You and I both know you trust him more than that. I think the person you don't trust, is you." Tea said poking Kaiba in the chest. Kaiba glared at her, pushing her hand away.

"_That's ridiculous._" Kaiba deadpanned, his stoic face and dismissive tone would of fooled anyone but her.

"Oh is it now, so I suppose what your telling me is that your brother is someone you can't trust as far as you can throw him? That he's a womanizing, party hopping boozer, who would blow off his studies for a good time, the kind of person who usually doesn't end up amounting to a hill of beans?"

"_I'M NOT SAYING THAT AT ALL!" _Kaiba shouted, incensed. "How dare you..."

"Hmm, or maybe he's just a conniving jerk who..."

"_My brother is a sophisticated, smart, charming, witty, capable person who amounts to a hell of a lot more than a hill of beans, he will certainly amount to more than anything you'll ever be!_" Kaiba interrupted stepping towards her, "_and anyone who says otherwise will have to answer to me, got it._"

"Then what's the problem?" she asked, shrugging her shoulders. Kaiba's eyes narrowed when he realized he'd been baited. Turning on his heel he stalked off, trench coat billowing behind him. Tea smiled, doing a victory dance, for once she got the last word, for once she had won. A real victory, not a he gets the last word, looks so cool going off, knowing deep down inside he was affected victory, but a real victory. She started twirling about.

"I won, I won, I shot the BB gun, he lost he lost, he drowned in apple sauce!" Tea sang, when she bumped into something warm and decidedly **not** a wall. Feeling behind her, she felt rock hard abs, a mouth, and a nose? Gulping she turned around to face Kaiba who wore his trademark smirk. Walking past her, and picking up his briefcase off the ground. He walked back the way he'd come, stopping in front of her.

"_Nice singing, but I believe I'm the one tha_t...'shot the BB gun?'" Kaiba whispered, smirking as her face reddened, and she covered her face with her hands.

"You, you heard that!"

"Everyone did." Kaiba said nodding too a crowd that was whispering in hush hush voices.

"Did you hear that, I thought someone was dying."

"Is she OK.?"

"She must've escaped from the loony bin down the street."

"Do you think she's dangerous."

"I don't know, but I already called the police."

"_YOU SON OF A BITCH, DON'T YOU THINK YOU COULD'VE WARNED ME!_" Tea shouted hurling expletives in Japanese. Kaiba put his hands up and backed away, into the crowd.

"_Stupid, stupid, stupid._" Tea said smacking her self in the head when she realized what a person singing to themselves and yelling in a foreign language must've looked like. Kaiba certainly didn't help matters any. A police officer walked up to her calmly, inching toward her slowly.

"Just calm down miss, everything is going to be OK, I'm not here to hurt you." The officer said cautiously, inching his way towards her. Just before she was tranquilized, as she ticked off and not thinking tried to explain herself in a mesh of Japanese and English, she saw Kaiba walking off, briefcase slung over his shoulder, smirking.

'Oh, he will pay.' she thought, just as the tranquilizer took affect, and swooning she fell easily into the officer and a man dressed in a white robe's arms.

* * *


	2. Pizza and a Setup

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh.

_Speaking Japanese or another language if indicated._

'Thoughts'

* * *

Mokuba punched in Tea's cell phone number, hoping she wouldn't be too mad he was late, as he prepared to head out the door at 7:15. The truth was though, he was nervous. Checking himself in the full length mirror for the umpteenth time, he blew out a nervous sigh. He had always had a small crush on Tea, and this was the first time there were ever going to go out alone, together. It almost qualified as a date. He was dressed in a light blue turtleneck that had a crimson puma on it and a pair of blue jeans, a pair of light blue sneakers completed the look. 

"Too much blue." Mokuba said digging through his closet pulling out a pair of red and blue fatigue pants, he nodded approvingly and changed into them. "There." Mokuba said, smiling. Then pulling out his rope ladder, he opened the window, attached it to the bed, and climbed down. Giving a slight tug, the ladder came down, and he stashed it in a bush. Pushing a button, the window closed, and the cameras began playing a 20 sec loop, rushing and hopping the fence, he made it just over as the cameras began watching the premises for intruders (or escapees) again. Mokuba smiled. 'Easy as 123.' He thought strolling off, and jumping on his motorcycle, he took off down the road. He pulled up to a place with a giant pizza that read Parcade Pizza. It was a arcade and a pizzeria all in one, Mokuba silently hoped Tea liked the place. Expecting to see her there, seeing as she didn't answer her phone, he was relieved to note she wasn't there yet, she was just as late as him. Taking a seat, he waited patiently for 15 minutes before he began to worry and dialed her number again.

"Hello?" Came a tired female voice.

"Ah, Tea, Moshi Moshi, how are things?"

"Great, except I just been released not ten seconds before you called from the local mental institution where your brother had me locked up." Tea said, the anger dripping off her fake sweet and cheerful voice.

"_WHAT?_"

"I'll tell you all about it when I get to...:"

"Parcade Pizza."

"Oh, my gosh I love that place!"

"So your still coming, cause if you don't want to I perfectly understand..."

"No, are you kidding me, I wouldn't miss it for the world, just let me freshen up and I'll tell you all about it."

"O.K."

Tea arrived 15 minutes later, taking Mokuba's breath away. She wore a purple sweater, that clung too her without looking trashy, and a cute little blue jean miniskirt that wasn't too slutty but showed off her long, dancer's legs. A pair of white sneakers with purple pom poms attached to them and a purple ribbon completed the look.

"Tea, you look great!" Mokuba said, greeting her with a big smile.

"I try." Tea said sitting down, "So you don't think I look like a slut?"

"No, not at all, you look, cute. That girl looks like a slut." Mokuba said, nodding to a woman with a skirt that was more like a belt and tube top, and pair or red stilettos. They both laughed as Tea took a seat.

"So what happened."

"Ok, I win this argument against your brother right?"

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "My brother is not that hard to win an argument against, you just have to..."

"Be utterly adorable and pour on the charm?" Tea said, Mokuba nodded, blushing a little.

"Basically, oh and you have to give him the old puppy dog eyes, he's a sucker for those." At this they both laughed. Tea shook her head, how these two were even related was beyond her. Not that she'd ever tell Mokuba that, telling someone that their brother was cocky, irritating, know it all bastard didn't exactly sit well with most people.

"Any who, I won an argument and started doing a victory dance, when a crowd gathers, and then he ticks me off and I start yelling at him in Japanese, but everyone thinks all he did was grab his briefcase so I come off looking like a crazy person. Then somebody called the cops and Kaiba backs up like he doesn't know me, and I'm so mad I don't even realize I'm talking in Japanese, and they don't know Japanese cause they are English speaking, Americans, so they think I'm crazy, next thing I know, I'm out like a light."

Mokuba started laughing, causing Tea to lightly punch him in the arm. "Hey it's not funny."

Wiping a tear from his eyes, Mokuba smiled. "I'm sorry I just can't...hehe...help...haha...it."

"Humph." Tea said folding her arms across her chest in mock anger.

"Wanna go play games?" Mokuba asked. Tea jumped off and they headed to the arcade section. First trying a shooter game out that Mokuba decimated Tea in, then a fighting game where they were about even.

"Oh, let's do this one!" Tea shouted, seeing a virtual dance game.

"Ok, but I got to warn you I'm pretty good." Mokuba said, grinning.

"Bet you I'm better." Tea said.

"Your on, loser buys the pizza." Mokuba said mounting the machine. Of course he could afford to buy the pizza joint, but this was still one game he didn't intend to lose. The music started and they both began stomping their feet on the various arrows, smiling and dancing for several songs, both getting perfect scores. They began to sweat as they cycled through practically every song on the board. A crowd had gathered around them, and people were cheering, never having seen two better players. Mokuba payed close attention to the screen wiping a bead of sweat off his face. He turned toward Tea, and saw her sweaty, clothes clinging to her body, as she payed rapt attention to the machine, her hips swaying to the beat as she hit the arrows. He missed the next group of arrows, and the machine announced he had lost the sudden death match. He didn't care.

"That was so much fun!" Tea cheered, stepping down off the machine. Mokuba snapped back to reality.

"Yeah, want to go to the park, this place is boring me." Mokuba asked. Tea nodded, and Mokuba paying for two slices of pizza, and a whole box for the road, Tea of course ordered the most expensive pizza on the menu, a gourmet delight that barely qualified as pizza it sounded so fancy, and they headed out the door. Tea looked at the motorcycle warily.

"Is that yours?"

"Yup, are you ready to go for a ride?" He asked, revving up the motorcycle. Tea let out a nervous sigh, and wrapping her arms around his waist, effectively causing his heart to skip a beat, they took off down the road. Tea held on to him for dear life, resting her head on his back and inching closer. She was obvious afraid for dear life, which he didn't mind if this was the result of that. He personally loved the wind blowing through his hair, and the feeling of freedom. Motorcycles was definitely one thing his brother had gotten right. Stopping at the park, he parked his bike and ran onto the grass, kicking off his shoes. Tea followed him, giggling.

"Last one to the ducks is a rotten egg!" Mokuba called.

"Wait!" Tea cried, trying to keep up.

Mokuba smiled and went into the zoo area of the park.

"I don't think we're allowed to be here." Tea whispered, "The animals probably aren't even out."

Tea's eyes widened, as she saw that not only were the animals out but foot lights lined the paths, and workers were standing at attention.

"Good Evening, Master Kaiba, and..."

"Tea Gardner."

"Madame Gardner, I hope everything is to your liking."

"Everything looks great." Mokuba said grinning, "did you lay out the blanket like I asked?"

"Yes sir, right this way sir." The man, who walked like a penquin, hurried them over to the duck pond, which had artificial lights bathing the lake in beautiful white light, the ducks swimming lazily around. On the ground was a red and white checkered blanket, and a cheery white picnic basket. Mokuba led her by the hand, and set the pizza box down on the ground. Then reaching into the basket he pulled out some soda put into a champagne bottle, and some chips, and a delicious apple pie. He also pulled out some bread.

"For the ducks." He stated. Tea nodded and sat down next to him.

"This all looks really good." She said, folding her hands into her lap. Mokuba smiled and her heart melted.

"Yeah, try some of the apple pie, I made it myself, you know apple for the big apple." Mokuba said laughing, and cutting her a slice, and then himself. Tea laughed at the cheesiness.

"Oh my gosh, Mokuba this is so good." Tea said shutting her eyes. Mokuba blushed a little.

"Yeah, Pierre taught me." Mokuba said rubbing the back of his head and smiling. "Anyway, shall we." He asked, sweeping his hands to display the food in a dramatic gesture. Tea laughed and the two fell into a comfortable silence. After they finished, they grabbed the bread and headed towards the ducks, who quacked and waddled happily towards them. Tea couldn't help but laugh as Mokuba knelt down, and first one duck, then two, and then twenty ducks waddled over to him, quacking and pilfering bread, and trying to pilfer the shiny button from his army fatigue pants.

"Aww, your so lucky Mokuba kun, all the ducks seem to love you, none of them come near me." Tea said nervously.

"It's cause your so tense, it scares them." Mokuba said walking over to her. Kneeling down, he patted the grass next to him, and Tea, mindful of her skirt, knelt down next to him. "Open your palm and relax your hand, the birds can sense your nervousness, and it makes them nervous." He said, holding out his hand. A duck waddled over to him, and proceeded to eat the bread crumbs from his hands. She let out a sigh, and decided to relax, a duck waddled over to her and stole the bread from her hands. Tea let out a squeal of delight, and turned to Mokuba who was staring at her thoughtfully and smiling, strands of black hair falling into his face. Tea gasped, she'd never seen him look more handsome.

"What?" Tea asked trying to clear her mind. Mokuba just gave her a mysterious smile and stood up, offering her his hand. Tea took it and he helped her up, and then proceeded to show her the rest of the animals. She even got to feed the seals some fish, which she was surprised to find wasn't nearly as scary or as icky as she thought it would be. It was fun, Mokuba made it fun. Mokuba walked her down the parks path, back to his motorcycle, and Tea hopped on, this time decidedly more content as she got on the motorcycle with him, laying her head on his back. Mokuba smiled, and proceeded to take her home.

"That was fun Mokuba, I really had a great time." Tea said smiling as he walked her up to her doorstop.

"Me too." Mokuba said, staring at her. Tea smiled, and leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

"Take care kiddo." She said ruffling his hair and smiling, before going inside her home. Mokuba kept the smile on his face until he knew she was safely inside, and the lights flickered off.

"Kiddo." He whispered, frowning. Shaking his head, he revved up his motorcycle and took of for his own home. Tea sighed plopping down, and taking a sip of some soda she had poured her self she grumbled. She couldn't believe she had actually been attracted to MOKUBA, he was five years younger than her for crying out loud.

"That's it, I officially need to go on more dates, heck two months ago this would be illegal " Tea said, grabbing her little black book. Because developing feelings for high schoolers was officially a no no. 'Though it did work out for Joey and Mai...no bad Tea bad' Tea mentally chastised herself.

* * *

"Kaiba Seto!" Mokuba shouted, opening the door, not caring that his brother knew he had been out. Kaiba arched an eyebrow as he turned his head from the TV screen where a woman in a suit was going on about the stock market. 

"_What?_" Kaiba asked.

"_How dare you get Tea sent off to a, a, nut house._" Mokuba shouted.

"_Mental Health Institution or psychiatric hospital._" Kaiba corrected. Just because he was rude didn't mean he wanted his brother to be. He didn't want his brother to be anything like him at all.

"_Like you care! You obviously didn't care about Tea_."

"_The girl is certifiable anyway Mokuba, she believes in dead pharaohs and fairy tales, as if the spirit of a 3,000 year old pharaoh would actually inhabit the necklace of one of my classmates._"

"_How could you not, we saw Atem and Yugi duel with our own two eyes._"

"_The building were in before the so called duel was an ancient tomb that had been recently discovered by archaeologists, so there may have been a gas leak or something that affected are minds and made us hallucinate. There is documented proof that tombs, that have collapsed do sometimes release tiny particles in the air that can cause hallucinations, and sometimes death. You should just be glad I'm alive."_

"_Quit trying to change the subject, why are you still so mean to them. They haven't done anything but try to befriend you!_"

"_No they haven't done anything but stalk me and insult my beliefs. I don't want their friendship and I don't care if the friendship preacher got sent off, if it were up to me they'd all get the help they so desperately need._"

"_This is exactly the reason why I picked a college in New York._" Mokuba said, stalking off to his room. Kaiba stared at the ground, when an idea popped into his head. 'Maybe if I can find a way to fix this, he'll come back with me to Domino.'

Picking up Mokuba's cell phone from where he had dropped it, he scrolled through the numbers.

"Hello?" Tea said, answering her phone.

"_Gardner, whatever you said to my brother to make him angry with me, fix it_."

"_I didn't say anything but the truth, and you have a lot of nerve calling me and demanding anything_!"

"_Look, how much is it going to cost to get you to cooperate?_"

Tea was fuming, she gripped the phone so hard turned her knuckles turned white, but she stopped, when a idea suddenly popped into her head. She knew exactly how to hit Kaiba where it hurt and it wasn't the pocket book.

"_You._"

"_What the heck are you talking about?_"

"_You have to spend an entire week with me, doing whatever I tell you to, oh and you get to be the one to foot the bill._"

"_That's ridiculous!_"

"_Ok, fine fix it yourself, I think your brother's going to love it here in New York, there are so many sights to see, I mean once you get used to the rampant crime and kidnappings, it's actually quite fun. It makes you forget all about Domino, and the people who made you mad there._" Okay so that last part wasn't true, truth was she missed Domino, a lot, and still visited on a regular basis, but Kaiba didn't need to know that. The line was silent for awhile.

"_My brother wouldn't forget me, we've..._"

"_been through to much together, love each other too much, trust me you'd be surprised how fast you lose your old phone numbers, come to think of it I haven't talked to Yugi and the guys or my family for years._" Tea said flippantly, playing with her nails despite the fact Kaiba couldn't see her. Another lie, but what Kaiba didn't know couldn't hurt him. Besides she was determined to force him to see that the life he was living was driving his brother away, he loved him dearly but at times Mokuba resented the feeling of being trapped in a weird realm where there was always too much work, and not enough time for family or friends.

"_You haven't talked to your own family in years?_" Kaiba asked, and she knew he believed her.

"_I've just been so busy, with school and work, and I made new friends, just like Mokuba will, I mean sure I still send a card every Christmas, but I'm not even sure..._"

"_That's not going to happen to me, screw you, I'll fix it myself._" Kaiba stated hanging up the phone, he'd call back, she could feel it in her bones. Kaiba growled and opening up a drawer began flipping through the morning mail the staff had deemed important. Kaiba opened up Mokuba's report card and growling, began stomping up the stairs. Opening up Mokuba's door he saw the younger brother playing video games.

"_What the hell is this!_" Kaiba thundered, Mokuba looked up and saw Kaiba waving a piece of paper around.

"Seems to be a piece of paper to me, maybe you should take a rest, you..."

"_It's what's on the paper I have a problem with..._"

"Mind speaking English, I need to practice since I'm going to be living here." Mokuba said, continuing to play games. Kaiba eyes narrowed.

"Not with these grades." Kaiba said tossing the paper down near Mokuba. "Four Cs, One A, and a D."

"So, I got an A didn't I?"

"It was in gym."

"So, C just means average."

"No, C just means your on the team, I've been looking through your corrected papers, and you got every answer wrong, every answer."

"I don't see the problem, I got an athletic scholarship..."

"The problem is, how the heck do you expect to be able to do a good job at Kaiba Corp if you can't even do basic high school math?"

"Who said anything about ever working for Kaiba Corp? I got professional basketball player in the bag, it pays almost as well as you do, I get to meet tons of hot babes, and I get to have lots of friends."

"Your not that good." Kaiba stated firmly.

"But I am that rich." Mokuba stated. "Don't stare at me all shocked, cause when you really think about it basketball is perfect for me, I get to be on a successful team of people, and make tons of friends, instead of being a lonely number one businessman, and the girls love basketball players, that's a big one right there."

"You can meet women working for Kaiba Corp too..." Kaiba stated, "And you don't need friends."

"Yes you do, and what would you know about women anyways Seto, have you ever been with a woman, have you ever even been kissed. No, you even haven't gotten up to bat, your still stuck on the bench dateless and alone, and if that's what it means to be a successful businessman, then I want no part of it."

"Well since the opposite sex seems to be so distracting to what's important, your not to go on anymore dates or contact anymore girls until your grades improve." Kaiba said, picking up Mokuba's little black book off his nightstand, Mokuba leaped off the bed, and quickly snatched the book away from him.

"I'm not a little kid anymore, and your not my father so quit pretending to be." Mokuba stated, pushing Kaiba out of the room, and slamming the door in his face. Kaiba stared at the door, in total and complete shock. Never had his brother said something like that to him, ever, and his brother had been plenty mad on several occasions. For him to say that, he was beyond upset, beyond pissed. Kaiba sighed, and slumped down to the floor. Kaiba stood up, heading down the stairs. 'It must be because he's upset about his friend, and I only added salt to the wound by yelling at him.' Kaiba sighed. "I'm no good at this emotional garbage, darn emotional phases if Mokuba doesn't snap out of this stupid phase soon he's going to kill me.." Kaiba muttered to himself. Picking up Mokuba's cell phone again, he quckly scrolled through and found Tea's phone number again.

"Hello." Tea said on the other side of the room.

"_Fine._" Kaiba said through gritted teeth. He may have hated the girl but he didn't' want Mokuba to leave him, or worse forget about him and never visit. He wanted his brother to like him again. He could already see it happening, they always spent Friday nights together, they'd watch a movie they both could agree on and have fun in their game room eating junk food and enjoying each other's company. But Mokuba didn't even seem to notice it was Friday. And to top it all off, they had argued.

Tea grinned evily. "Good then, we'll start Monday, be there at 8:00 in the morning sharp."

"I have a meeting."

"Cancel it." Tea said hanging up, leaving no further room for discussion. Kaiba threw the phone against the wall smashing it into pieces.

'What on earth have I gotten myself into?' Kaiba wondered. As the maid nonchalantly pulled another phone from a drawer and placed it one the table.

* * *

I'm Alive! Lol, I'm back, though don't expect updates to be much quicker than this, unfortunately. I probably will only be able to update once a month, twice if I'm lucky. I simply don't have time between classes, studying, work, studying, a bit of a social life, and more studying, not to mention laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning and studying! Not to mention Karaoke Nights 2 and Domino Exchange especially, need updating. Sighs. Ah well, such is life. Oh and to answer everyone's question, no this story is not based on a book and I have no idea if a book like that exist, though it sure does sound interesting, ne? I just thought it be funny to have them reading about their own situation, and not even realize it. Well unti next time, read and review. 


	3. All in a Day's Work

Discaimer: I don't own Yugioh

_Japanese_

_**emphasis**_

"You are just on a whole different playing field" Mai said, tucking a strand of blond hair behind her ear. "I mean, I should be mad at you, cause that is **_my_** bed, but considering, you just completed mission impossible...I'll let it slide."

"Mai, its not like that!" Tea shouted, stomping her feet on the ground.

"No, Seto Kaiba is just sprawled out on my bed, wearing heaven knows what, I really don't want to lift up the sheet and check, for innocent reasons." Mai said, poking Kaiba on his bare back, glad it was too dark in the room to properly see. Kaiba let out a growl, muttered something incomprehensible and pulled the covers over his head like a small child, then fell back asleep, his soft snore all the indication they needed. Mai raised an accusing eyebrow, and Tea blew the bangs from her face.

"Mai, for the last time, its not like that. I manipulated him into being my servant, made him do all kinds of hard labor, and then had him take a shower cause he smelled like sweat."

"**_Hard labor, huh? Sweaty, huh? _**Sounds to me like he was your servant of love." Mai laughed. Tea almost threw up a little in her mouth, sure the guy was attractive...WHOA! Where did that come from? Tea groaned.

"Look, Kaiba hasn't even done anything remotely **_close_** to that before."

"Oooh, and your a **_dancer_**, no wonder he's so worn out." Mai said, thoughtfully, laughing as Tea glared at her.

"_IT'S NOT LIKE THAT, OKAY!_" Tea shouted.

"Hmm, a sudden revert back to Japanese, I think doth do protesteth to much."

Tea growled, and grabbed Kaiba's arm and began shaking him as hard as she could. Kaiba pulled away, and pulled the covers back over his head.

"_Try that again, and your fired._" Kaiba said groggily. "_Whatever, or whomever it is that posses you to shake me like that, will, mmphmp fergern jojiadf_" Tea rolled his eyes, only Kaiba threatened employees in his sleep. Tea sighed defeated, and motioned for Mai to leave the room. The two went downstairs, and Mai made them both coffee, because Mai could just _**tell** _Tea needed it. Tea sipped the coffee angrily, how did Kaiba manage to defeat her, while he was defeated? She had started out with the upper hand...

(Flashback)

Kaiba had arrived at Tea's house at 8:00:00 am, as instructed. Which freaked Tea out beyond all reason, not even being one second late was ridiculous! He had on his usual attire, black pants, silky navy blue dress shirt,and black trench coat. Boots laced, and straps strapped. Tea however, couldn't remember why she had told Kaiba to come at such an ungodly hour. Her hair was still a mess, and she was still wearing her baby blue cotton camisole, and boy shorts. Kaiba's heart skipped a beat but he quickly regained his composure.

"Good Morning Gardner, you look like..."

"Kaiba, if you want to continue to be included among the male population, you'll stop that sentence right there." Tea ground out, Kaiba would've said something back, but if Tea was going to fix his problem with Mokuba, he would have to try to be (he visibly shuddered), nice. Kaiba waltzed into her house, and snorted in disgust. There was paper, clothing, and all kinds of other junk all over the floor, resisting the urge to start calling her miss piggy, he instead folded his arms across his chest, smirking.

"I suppose you want me to clean up this..." Kaiba bit his lip to refrain from saying anymore, as he made a broad sweeping gesture of all the filth.

"No shit, sherlock." Tea said, walking back into her room. "Get to work, I'm going to back to sleep, and if its not done by the time I get back up, I'm going to tell Mokuba you stopped by and threatened me with 'the full, force of Kaiba Corp.' if I didn't take back what I said." Then she dragged herself back to her room.

When Tea woke up at noon, (4 hours later), Kaiba had already finished all the available rooms, and had made lunch.

"Morning sunshine." Kaiba smirked, as Tea sent him a death glare, knowing full well she looked like a mess, she now had put on some pajama pants, but everything was still rumpled, and her hair was still a mess. She sighed, at least she had remembered to brush her teeth, (she usually ate a bowl of cereal first and then brushed her teeth because she didn't want the sugary cereal to mess up her work, her smile had to dazzle) something had told her too, today, she just wished she had listened to her brain and gotten dressed too. Sitting down, she eyed the food warily, it all looked delicious, but Kaiba had made it. Kaiba sat down, made himself a plate consisting of sushi, rice balls, vegetables, and shrimp. There was also chocolate mousse but that was for desert. Shrugging her shoulders as she watched Kaiba take a bite, she took a rice ball and bit into it.

"Aren't you going to use a plate?" Kaiba said disgusted.

"Aren't you going to use a plate?" Tea mimicked, "You sound like my mother." she taunted. Kaiba glared up at her, and since his mouth was full, pointed a chopstick at her, giving her look that clearly said watch your mouth. Tea smirked.

"Hm, you know what I just thought about, since your my servant, you really shouldn't be eating at the same table as me." Tea said, tapping her finger against her chin. "You should be eating, in the servant's quarters." Getting up, Tea dragged a chair, and opened a closet, pulling out a broom, a couple of cleaners, and a vacuum cleaner, she motioned for him to go inside. Kaiba glared at her, folding his arms across his chest, and leaning back in the chair.

"You better be joking." Kaiba deadpanned. "I'm not going in there, your lucky you got any food at all, you never said to make any, therefore this is my food. I paid for it, since all you had were some instant noodles, and potato chips. By law, if you were to eat my food, I could accuse you of stealing, also I'm almost certain that, that particular closet doesn't meet the national workers association guidelines, which if you don't meet, is harassment. Heck, because of your little comment about me being 'outed' the other night, I bet any competent lawyer could term it sexual harassment, since in order to leave those quarter, I'd have to qoute, unqoute come out of the closet."

Tea's jaw dropped, and she glared at him. But she supposed that he had a point, servant wasn't the right term for him. "Yeah well your not a servant, your my slave, my bitch, for the next week, unless you don't want your little brother to think your blackmailing me."

"You wouldn't dare." Kaiba growled, threateningly. Tea messed up her hair, and began crying, tears streaming down her face.

".ba, please, just forget I ever told you about what your brother .me." Tea said, covering her face with her hands. "Please." she whispered. "Tea, what happened?" Tea said, imitating Mokuba's voice as a child, for effect, the best she could. "I .." Tea hiccuped. "So, why can't you?" she switched back to Mokuba. "I don't want to tell you, it'll cause too much trouble between you two just please forget it."

"My brother would never fall for that." Kaiba said, turning his head.

"What did he do?" Tea said warningly. "He said he would get my scholarships removed, and get me kicked out of school, that he'd make it so I couldn't dance again for coming in between you two." Tea said, placing a hand on her hip and smirking. Kaiba stiffened, his brother would believe that, in fact he manipulated people that way on a daily basis. If he had a nickel for every time he had done it, he'd be worth twice as much. Getting up, and sending her the deadliest glare he could muster, and summoning up as much dignity as he could, he strode into the closet and slammed the door. Tea heaved as sigh of relief as she slid against the wall. She had been about five seconds from ripping his shirt off, and that was definitely not a road she wanted to go down, and since out of sight was out of mind, which meant she had to find ways to make him look like an idiot, or better yet hide him away completely, while still paying him back for her new bottles of anti-psychotics.

Eating the food, turned out to make matters worse. She loved a man who could cook, it was on her list for the perfect guy, and she dumped anyone who couldn't. To her, a guy who could cook, not just cook, but **_cook_** was the epitome of sexy, and Kaiba could **_cook_**. She could tell he made it himself too, because she had been to all the Japanese restaurants, even the most elite, within a five mile radius, and unless Kaiba went six miles, which was unlikely since if he did, the food would have been prepared to look more appetizing, despite the fact it tasted amazing, the workmanship on the rice balls, and the skill used to wrap the sushi, definitely wasn't on a professional level. Finding, the mousse the most dangerous part of the meal, she groaned as she couldn't seem to get enough, which was making him look more and more attractive, with each bite.

Kaiba came out of the closet and tossed his dishes into the sink, he accidentally broke a couple. Swearing under his breath, he stooped down to pick up the pieces, cutting himself in the process. Tea walked over to him, and grabbed his hand, as he attempted to pull the glass out himself.

"Come here, your doing it wrong." Tea snapped, grabbing his hand, and sitting him down at the table. Pulling a pair of tweezers out of the drawer, she grabbed his hand, and began pulling out little pieces of glass. Kaiba stared at her wordlessly, as he noticed that at the angle she was currently at, her camisole was no longer covering her well. "There." Tea said, snipping his gauze, snapping him out of it. Kaiba swore under his breath, he had been staring. Tea grabbed his hand and kissed his finger without thinking. Tea noticed his feint blush, as he stood abruptly.

"What else needs to be done." Kaiba grunted.

"You need to, umm, landscape the yard." Tea said, trying to get him out of the house. Seeing him, bothered like that, made it hard not want to... bother him some more.

When Tea went outside a few hours later, she saw Kaiba sitting down on the stoop, the yard completely done, and looking better than anyone else's. "This, this is my yard." Tea asked. Kaiba nodded and grunted, wiping away some sweat. Fixing her yard up took a lot of hard work, he had to put down new grass, but it looked nice.

"I planted some flowers, no idea which kind, says it all one these labels, just grabbed a bunch that would grow. Follow the directions for care, and stay off the grass for a while, am I done?" Kaiba huffed. Tea looked down at him, and her breath caught in her throat. He wasn't wearing his trench coat and his shirt was completely unbuttoned.. Taking his water bottle, he poured it over his head, and shook the water out of his hair, and face. "_It's hot out here."_

"I'll say." Tea agreed nodding dumbly. Tea sighed, she couldn't just let him die of heatstroke, stubborn guy wasn't going to admit he needed to come in and cool down. "Want some lemonade?" Tea asked. Kaiba nodded, and they went inside the house, Kaiba grabbed his trench coat, slung it over his shoulder as he walked into the house. Handing him a glass, she sat down with some sugar cookies, and taking one, began to eat, trying not to stare.

Kaiba, for his, part was oblivious. Which only made Tea more angry, he didn't seem to notice that she had changed into a pair of short shorts, and a tank top. He didn't notice her hair was drawn up into a cute ponytail, bangs framing her face, nor that she was wearing lip gloss and mascara. Growling she took another gulp. Sighing she made her way to the table. "Don't get crumbs on my couch!" Tea snapped, trying to push her thoughts out of her mind. Kaiba sighed, and made his way into the kitchen. Tea pointed toward the closet, and Kaiba gave her a glare but complied, slamming it shut. Tea jumped from her seat, and splashed her face with cold water, careful not to get her hair wet, lest he found out what she was doing. Tea felt two strong arms placed either side of her, and a presence behind her.

"A little, hot under the collar, are we Gardner." Kaiba said, Tea cringed and turned around, looking up into Kaiba's smirking face.

"That, that's another thing we need to address, you should be calling me madame or something, you are, my servant."

"You sure you don't want me to call you, master?" Kaiba said, whispering in her ear, Tea bit her lip. The implications he had thrown into the word 'master' made her wish he was a different kind of 'slave' altogether.

"Yes, because that's what Prima Ballerinas are called."

"Hn, C'est vrai, mais votre pas une ballerine de prima. Votre un dense, laid, porc. Et votre tomber amoureux de moi en ce moment, quoique vous ne puissiez pas comprendre le mot d'I j'indique. Pouvez-vous ? Vous stupide, sans grâce, vache." Kaiba whispered in her ear.

Tea's eyes widened, did he just say amour? Every girl knew what that word meant, he also said prima ballerina, she didn't know what he said, but it made her heart melt. He spoke French, wonderfully, and the words sounded so romantic, even if she was somewhat sure it was an insult. Moving her eyes away from his, she searched her mind desperately for a reply, something to knock him back down, and stared at his chest, beads of sweat still clinging onto it. She smirked, sweat!

"Ugh, you smell, take a shower." Tea said, pushing him away, with all of her willpower. Kaiba smirk faded, and he glared at her, before pushing her lightly to side, and getting himself a glass of water.

"That's your fault." Kaiba said, folding his arms across his chest. "I'll take a shower later, I have nothing to change into anyway."

"I'll wash your clothes." Tea blurted without thinking. Cursing mentally at herself, she stared at him with a look that easily said, do as I say, now. Kaiba eyes widened for a second, but the look of shock was immediately replaced with a look of smug satsifaction.

"You really want me out of..."

"Say it, and I'll rip your head off, you arrogant, **_nauseating_**, useless, deluded, burden of society! Oh and je sais ce que vous avez dit" Tea snapped. Tea did a mental dance. Kaiba looked throughly shocked, blinking a few times, and then storming off. Tea let out a sigh of relief, and plopped down on the couch. She sighed, she needed some serious therapy, not only was she attracted to a teenager, but now his brother, who just happened to be her best friends number one rival. Smacking herself on the head, she sighed. She noticed Kaiba had seemed exceptionally upset, he had blinked a few times, and his eyes had made the room seem to drop to below freezing. Shrugging, she picked up his clothes, and threw them in the washer, along with rest of the clothes he had folded neatly outside the bathroom. Turning on the T.V. She listened to some talking head news channel, where two people sat down, and not only reported the news, but then gave his or her opinion about it, telling the audience what to think about a certain story.

"Okay, Madonna adopts this kid from Malawi, what's the big deal?" A older woman, in a smart dress asked a plump old guy, in a sharp suit and bad toupee.

"Well I'll tell you what the big deal is Shelia, the big deal is Madonna used her celebrity to get the kid, as a status symbol. It looks good for her to have the kid, to save the kid from an impoverished lifestyle, which is fine, because it's a win, win situation. The problem is, that the kid shouldn't of been adopted to her in the first place, because it's not supposed to be allowed by law. They said, that she promised to give them a lot of money, but that means she's essentially, buying the child."

"Well it's not like the kids going to be a slave or anything Mr. Wallace, the kid has found a good home, the proverbial jackpot for children in orphanages, a loving mother, who has not only the heart to care for a child, and all that motherly stuff, but also a wealthy woman, someone who can give them anything they ever wanted."

"Getting whatever you want is not necessarily best for the kid, let's face it, Madonna is a busy woman, how much time can she really give to this child, how much love can you have for the latest celebrity fashion accessory. "

"Well, that's all the time we have for you Mr. Wallace, thank you for being on the show. Let's turn to some of our callers for their opinion, we have Mike from Oregon, Mike what do you have to say on the issue."

"Well, I think Madonna should be able to keep the kid. Like you said, Shelia, he'll have a good home. Besides, orphans, not just African ones, but all of them, are just burdens on society. Most of them are just, from horrible people who you don't want reproducing, who don't want to get an abortion. The rest of the lot are just kids nobody wants, cause nobody could want them. Their just burdens on society, and if Madonna wants to ease that burden, good for her."

"Pretty strong opinion there Mike, our next caller is Jill from..." Tea saw the T.V. click off, and turned around to see Kaiba had grabbed the remote from beside her and turned it off. Tea looked up at him, a dark look on his features.

"What passes for entertainment these days..." Kaiba said, tossing the remote back down on the couch. "Where are my clothes?"

"In the washer, it'll be about 45 mintues until there done, 15 to wash, 30 to dry." Tea nodded. "My dryer's kind of slow."

"What am I supposed to do?" Kaiba, snapped. Tea turned toward him, and her eyes widened. He was clutching a towel around his waist, but that was it. Tea chocked on her soda, her face red. Kaiba smirked and inched toward her. "Or was this your plan all along?" Kaiba said, leaning down so their faces were almost touching. Tea grabbed either side of his face and pulled him closer, kissing him. Kaiba's eyes widened, and he pulled away.

"Come here." Tea said wagging her finger, Kaiba backed away, obviously nervous. Tea smirked. "I win." Tea said, turning back towards to T.V.

"What?" Kaiba asked, confused.

"Your sick little game, I win. I knew you were too scared to actually do anything, your just trying to intimidate and exploit me, to get me to talk to your stupid brother, without doing any work." Tea said, looking at her fingernails.

"That's why you kissed me?" Kaiba said, incredulous.

"Yep, that's why, now then, get back to..."

"But it was my first one." Kaiba growled, not realizing he said it out loud. Tea's eyes widened, and she whirled around. She had always doubted he hadn't went on many dates, but, never been kissed, at 23?

"Did you just say it was your first one?" Tea said, holding back a laugh. Kaiba's eyes widened.

"No, I just..."

Tea pulled out a tape recorder from the couch. Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "I was about to make you bark like a dog, and then mail it to Joey for a birthday present, but this is so much better than that!"

"Gardner..." Kaiba warned. Tea played back the tape over and over, but it was my first one, but it was my first one, but it was my first one...'

"I just haven't had the time, it's not like I was out, out, acting like an idiot with the rest of you people. I had responsibility, a child to raise, a company to run! Not only that, but I have an image to maintain, I can't just date some random broad off the street, she could bring down not only my reputation, but the reputation of the company. Not to mention all the women who already try to claim they are bearing my child, which is impossible. There is also the statistics to look at, the chance for contracting a disease, or getting a woman pregnant, are high for normal people, do you know how many women would tamper with the protection, in an attempt to get pregnant! If they get pregnant with my child, they have me locked down for 18 years. Then there is all the tabloids who will spread salacious gossip from exes. No, in order for me to ask a woman out on a date, she has to be someone I can trust. Someone I could see myself marrying, I can't afford to be immature on **_any_** level, nor do I want to be."

"But you don't trust anyone." Tea said quietly.

"I trusted you, which was obviously a mistake."

"You trusted me."

"Don't go misunderstanding what I'm telling you, I trusted you to a certain extent. I wouldn't trust you with my life, but you always seemed...different. I wouldn't trust Wheeler anymore than I'd trust a dog to leave an eye level steak alone. However, I figured, that you wouldn't make me do anything too humiliating, like put me in a closet and not let me eat at a table like a human being, or make tapes that could be potentially detrimental to my person, I expected to do some hard labor because I knew you'd be ticked off about the other day, but still, I trusted you. I figured if I ever told any woman but my future, may-be wife, that I would do whatever they asked, you wouldn't take too much advantage of that."

Tea stared down at the tape, she'd been having fun, but he was right. She'd lectured Duke about the same kind of things. Tea heard someone fumbling with the lock, and her eyes widened as she jumped up, if Mai saw Kaiba looking like that, she'd assume the worst. "Quick, hide in that room." Tea said, shoving Kaiba into the door closest to him and locking the door.

"What the hell?"

"I don't want Mai assuming...things, and thinking that we, ugh! Just stay in the room."

"Why should I? Your the one that told me to take a shower, I'm not staying in here."

"Your my slave, got it, now do as your told!"

"I'm your servant, not your love slave, just explain that to her."

"No! She wouldn't believe me."

"...Gardner, since when did you speak French?"

"What the the heck kind of question is that!"

"Tell me in French, and I'll shutup."

"I don't speak it okay, I just memorized how to say I know what you said, in 15 different languages, to shut people up, it shut you up didn't it?"

"I knew it! You want to be a prima ballerina, and you don't even speak French. And you called me a burden on society, your a burden to the dance world. I feel bad for the poor girls who have to lift you, their backs must be..."

Tea growled, opened the door, kicked Kaiba as hard as she could where the sun don't shine, and shut the door.

"I'm home!" Mai's voice called. Tea swore under her breath, and ran down the stairs.

"Hey Mai, how's it going."

"Great, Pierre rescheduled the photo shoot for tomorrow, so I don't have to go to work again until around eight!" Mai said, a smile on her face.

"Oh really, that's great." Tea said. "Why did he cancel." Tea said trying to occupy the girls time, hoping Kaiba had the sense to keep track of time and sneak and grab his clothes. Kaiba looked around the room, snorting in disgust. Everything was purple, sheer purple curtains, plum carpet, purple bedspread, lilac towels, purple, purple, purple. Shrugging his shoulders he fell back onto the bed, closing his eyes.

"45 minutes to kill, hmm, think I'll take a nap, I've been working on computers way too long. All that work has made me exhausted, I think I'll book some more workout sessions with old man Lee." Kaiba thought, falling asleep.

(End Flashback)

Tea sighed, as she leaned back in the couch. Not only had Kaiba managed to throughly embarrass her, but she had to apologize for calling him a burden, which he was! She also would have to deal with him getting up out of bed, and she had seen his towel lying on the floor. She tapped her cup with her finger thinking back when Kaiba said he hadn't been with a woman. She frowned, she didn't know why, but it bothered her. It bothered her that his own overly analytical mind, and distrust, had caused him to miss out on so much in life, even now. He didn't have fun in high school, and he still wasn't having fun, life was only about power, work, and Mokuba, which was why he was so desperate to win him back. She knew Mokuba would eventually come around, he was just going through a phase, but it was still hurting his older brother a lot more than the average teenagers 'don't tell me what to do, I hate you' rants.

She frowned, now she felt sorry for the bastard, how was she supposed to get her revenge when she felt for him, was undeniably physically attracted to him, and had to apologize! Groaning, she put her cup down on the table, and pinched her nose with her index finger and thumb, now the bastard had given her a headache.

"Wow, he must be pretty good, I've never seen you so, tired before." Mai giggled. "Hmm, maybe I should invite him over to my bachelorette party, you say all i have to do is cause some tension between him and his brother and blackmail him right?" Mai said nodding her head.

Tea growled, Mai wasn't helping anything. "When are you moving in with Joey again?"

"After we get married, next April."

"Maybe you should consider pushing the date forward a little bit, how about tomorrow, does tomorrow sound good to you."

"Why want some alone time with your boo?"

"Ugh, your impossible." Tea said throwing a pillow at her. Mai laughed and threw it back at her.

"Oh don't worry, I believe you, you sure as heck didn't clean this mess."

"What's that supposed to me."

"Face it Missy, your not the cleanest girl in the world, though who can blame you, it's obvious hanging around sloppy guys like Shnookums and Tristan has had a bad affect on you."

Tea growled and threw a pillow at her, which Mai, responded to by throwing the pillow right back, however she missed and the pillow hit Kaiba in the face. Mai let out a yelp, then clutched her chest. "When the heck did you wake up?"

"Valentine is your roommate?"

"Yes, and she goes by the name Mai, sheesh we're not in Japan anymore call people by their first names."

"I don't care I'm Japanese, even if you seem to have forgotten the fact you are too."

"What are you implying?"

"I asked you a question Kaiba!" Mai snapped. If there was one person that get on her nerves it was him, she'd have to remember to burn her sheets later.

"I'm not obligated to answer Valentine, so cool it."

"Your English sucks Kaiba."

"What?" Kaiba snapped, spinning around on his heels. Tea growled, but at least he'd gotten dressed.

"Your, English, sucks."

"My English is flawless."

"You sound like a textbook, I'm not obligated to answer, nobody talks like that!"

"Don't blame me for your ignorance." Kaiba said, turning towards Tea. "Now, if there is nothing else, I'm leaving."

"Fine, just be back here by 9:00pm."

"What's happening at 9:00"

"Look, I'm sorry I called you a burden on society, okay, I know how upset it must've made you, and I'm sorry I took away your first kiss, and for being a bitch in general, so to make it up to you, I'm going to let you take me to the Industrial Illusion's night under the stars." Tea said, doing a victory dance, not only did she technically apologize to Kaiba, but because of his fame she got to the most exclusive, eloquent, party of the year, and Kaiba had to go to a party thrown by a man he hated, while she came out smelling like a rose. Kaiba's eyes narrowed.

"Fine." Kaiba ground out, obviously not liking the situation as he stormed out of the house.

"Nothing going on, huh?" Mai cooed. Tea was opened her mouth to reply when her phone rang, with a ring tone that decidely wasn't hers.

"I'm a bitch, I'm a lover, I'm a child, I'm mother, I'm a sinner..." Tea flipped open her phone, knowing full well who changed it as Mai fell off the couch cracking up.

"Hello, oh hey Mokuba, you want me to go to Pegasus's night under the stars with you..." Mai jumped up and stared at Tea in shock, Tea hld up a hand to silence her. "Erm, sure, how about I meet you there, I already have tickets...you want me to sit with you and your brother..." Mai vehemently shook her head, noticing Tea's blush. "I'd love to..." Mai hung her head, and slapped her forehead, her friend was so stupid sometimes. "Yeah, great, mmhmm, see you there, oh and Mokuba, let's keep the fact that this is a date a secret from your brother okay, he's liable to kill me, okay, see you there, bye bye." Tea groaned and sank into the couch. How did her great idea suddenly turn into a bad one.

"Mokuba's willing to keep it a secret?" Mai said, sounding a little shocked. "Your going to be dating the two most eligible bachelors, the Kaiba brothers at the same time."

"Yep, and Kaiba has to as part of our deal, so I think I may be able to pull this off." Tea said, blowing her bangs from her face.

Mai shook her head, a smile on her face. "You are just on a whole different playing field."

a/n:

This is what Kaiba says in French, of course using Google translate it's probably not completely accurate if at all. But I tried. :)

"Hn, True, but you're not a prima ballerina. You're a dense ugly pig. And your falling in love with me right now, even though you can't understand a word I'm saying. Can you? You stupid graceless cow.


	4. A Night Under the Stars part 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh

_Japanese_

_**emphasis**_

A/N: If you want to see a picture of Tea's shoes go to my homepage on my profile, definitely worth a look, I want these shoes so bad!!

Mai smiled, as she backed away from Tea, push pins her in her mouth, she admired her work. "You, look great hon." Mai said, giving her the thumbs up.

"Mai, are you sure this isn't too...I mean doesn't it kind of scream...prostitute?" Tea said, biting her lip in the mirror, she was wearing a ankle length gown strapless blue gown, which wouldn't of been a problem if it wasn't for the two slits that ran up almost the way up to her waist, stopping only an inch below it. Her hair was swept up in an elegant bun with cubic zirconium studs, with two strands of hair framing her face in loose curls. She also had on silver cubic zirconium waterfall necklace, and a pair of silver sandal hills, whose thong came up over her foot and had three straps that tied around her ankle area, and three more the toe area, the heel a dark brown, whose end looked more like an amber color.

"No, you can't see anything, and the powder blue really brings out your eyes." Mai, said matter of factually.

"But still, it has no straps."

"So, you can get away with that cause you actually fill it up, it's flat chested people who need straps and rouching, to make them appear, bigger." Mai said, nodding. Tea looked at herself in the mirror, she had to admit, she did look breathtaking, but the dress showed so much leg, it was the kind of dress she'd wear to something less formal...but this was the social event of the year, was Mai's hand me down dress really going to help her?

"Maybe this was a bad idea, I'm just going to call Kaiba and..."

"Oh no you don't I may not be able to go, but you sure as hell are! How else am I going to know about all the important people? Maybe Paris Hilton will be there!" Mai exclaimed, clasping her hands together.

"I doubt they'd let that slut into something this formal, this isn't Hollywood, this is the business world!"

"She isn't a slut, she's just very open about her sexuality, and she's like the heiress to Hilton hotels, she's beyond rich, you never know..."

"More importantly though, both the Kaibas are going to be there, I mean, it shouldn't be hard to juggle them both, right? Right?"

"Of course not, their both supposed to be keeping the fact their on a date with you away from the other brothers eyes, so their going to be doing things like stealing kisses and moments, dancing with you, telling you things on the dance floor, they dare not speak. It's going to be so romantic." Mai said, covering her heart with her hand. "Why can't Joey be romantic like that, err, that's it, he's cut off, when I see him this weekend, grr, he's going to get it!" Mai shouted, pounding her fist into her hand. Tea laughed at her friend, Kaiba was so good at getting, Joey's goat, he got him trouble without even trying or realizing it. Poor Joey was going to be incredibly confused. She shrugged, served him right for saying ballet was boring the last time he was in the states.

"Speaking of which, are you going to Japan this time, or is Joey coming here?" Tea asked, giving herself one last check in the mirror as she applied pink lip gloss to her pink lips. She already had on blush, and made her eyes look smoky, making her long lashes look even longer.

"I'm going there, so you'll have the house all to yourself for a whole week, plenty time for you to get in trouble." Mai said, winking. Tea glared at her when she heard her doorbell ring. She looked at her digital clock, 9:00:00 pm, rolling her eyes, she headed to the door. Opening it she gasped, at the sight that greeted her, Kaiba had never looked so good. Dressed in a white tuxedo, with a light blue dress shirt and a black tie, a pair of black shoes, and a white diamond covered watch completed the look.

"That's not what your wearing, is it?" Kaiba said, giving her a disapproving look.

"What's wrong with the way I look?" Tea snarled, glaring at Kaiba. It was the best she could come up with...and he had no right to make her feel so...poor and dirty.

"You look like a slut, there's no back, no straps, and the slit on you dress is practically to your waist."

"You really think I'm going to stand out?" Tea asked, looking at her self nervously.

"No, you'll blend into much with those other gold digging tramps, whom I never associate with. Relax, Gardner, actually you look, adequate." Kaiba said, holding up a bouquet of white roses with blue ribbon. Tea stared down at the flowers, before snatching them from him.

"Here, get your butt inside, I'm not finished getting ready." Tea snarled dragging him into the house.

"But, we'll be late." Kaiba growled, hating to be dragged around.

"Live with it." Tea snapped, stomping up the stairs. Kaiba plopped down onto the couch, and flicked on the TV. Mai glanced up, surprised to see Tea.

"What are you doing here hun, wasn't that Kaiba?" She asked. Tea nodded.

"He called me a slut, Mai, I told you this slit was too high, dang it, give me a different dress!" Tea said, wringing her hands

"No time for that, hold on, I got an idea." Mai said, grabbing a slender piece of shimmery, powder blue fabric that attached to cubic zirconium clip. She pinned it to Tea's dress, just where one of the slits was, covering up her leg a little bit, though it was still visible beneath the sheer fabric, the diamond clip added an eloquent design to the dress. She also grabbed a sheer, shimmery navy blue scarf, and draped it over her shoulders. Tea adjusted it so it draped a little over back, and held each piece between each of her arms.

"There eloquent, and provocative, everything a classy dress should be." Mai, said, clasping her hands together at a job well done. "Plus, changing the dress completely would be too obvious, don't give the jerk that satisfaction."

Tea came down the stairs, huffing. But Mai was right, if she wouldn't everything to go smoothly, she had to keep her emotions in check, the good and **_bad_**. Kaiba looked up at her she came down the stairs, she looked exactly the same, only different, somehow. Must be the scarf, he thought to himself.

"Ready?" Kaiba asked, extending his hand. Tea placed her hand in his, and Kaiba led her down the last couple of stairs, before smoothly bringing her to close to him, and kissing her hand. "Alright, my pulchritudinous date, lets go."

"What did you call me?" Tea snapped.

"Pulchritudinous." Kaiba repeated as if that explained everything. Tea glared.

"Quit calling me ugly!" Tea shouted. "I am not putrid."

"Pulchritudinous isn't a synonym for putrid..." Kaiba growled, grabbing her arm, and starting to drag her out of the room, "Now come on, we're already going to be five minutes late, any longer and people will start to notice."

"I don't care." Tea said, sticking a tongue out at him. "I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you, until you tell me what you called me."

"I called you pul.chri.tu.di.nous. (A)" Kaiba said, enunciating each symbol as if she was stupid, and saying it that way would make it become obvious. "It means, symmetrical." Kaiba added. Tea raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?" Tea asked.

"Pulchritudinous, adjective, symmetrical." Kaiba said rolling his eyes. Tea growled, he wouldn't explain himself, which meant he didn't want her to know what he said. So he answered her question, with a confusing definition. Looking at the clock, she realized they were going to be ten minutes late now. She didn't have time to look up the word for the time being, so she decided to just slap him, and head out for the car, if he didn't want her to know what he said, then it must've been something bad.

"What the hell was that for?" Kaiba growled.

"For calling me pulchritudinous." Tea said stomping off.

"Fine your a discombobulated, unprepossessing, ignoramus." Kaiba said, smirking. Tea frowned.

"Nice try Kaiba but I know that discombobulated means slovenly, and I know what an ignoramus is too, and I'm not sure about that other one, but..." Tea slapped him again, "This should make up for it, now let's go."

Kaiba glared at her, but stomped off anyway, tonight was important, with or without Tea, and he was already, he checked his watch, 15 minutes late. Opening the limo door for her, she slid in, obviously impressed. Kaiba slid in across from her, and the limo driver proceeded.

"So, where's Mokuba." She asked, thankful he wasn't in the car, getting there was the one part she was afraid of, since, she had forgotten to tell him she was going to be late. (really so she could slide in without him noticing she arrived with Kaiba and hadn't been late at all)

"He's going to meet me there, he's going to be a half hour late, since he promised his friend Sam he'd help him with his assignment." Kaiba said bored.

* * *

Mokuba buttoned up his shirt. "I really have to go now Samantha." Mokuba said. "I'm going to be really late, and my brother will blow a gasket."

"Oh do you have to." A girl with long, messed up dark black hair, and beautiful brown eyes pouted. She licked her lips. "I'm ready for round four." She said, pulling Mokuba back onto the kitchen table with her by his tie.

* * *

Tea did a mental victory dance, now that that was taken care of, she'd have a much easier time juggling the two. She sighed looking at Kaiba, she'd have to remember to look up pulchritudinous, but for now, she wanted to make it work. Nonchalantly, she switched sides of the limo so she was on the same side as him, Kaiba stiffened but said nothing. She stifled a giggle, he really wasn't used to...dating. She didn't know why it shocked her, but it did, and bothered it a lot. Staring at his impassive face out the corner of her eye as he watched the scenery go by out of the window, she realized the reason it was so shocking, is because he did one heck of a job of hiding it. His emotions or what he was thinking were completely unreadable. If it wasn't for her body language class, she wouldn't be able to tell he was nervous, but his body was stiff, his hands a little sweaty, and cold, and his throat dry, as evidenced by him swallowing more times than usual, though he made no noise.

She leaned back in the chair, maybe she shouldn't of slapped him, she didn't know what he had said, and it was his first real date, and an awful way to begin it. He was probably not sad, somehow he didn't seem the type to be heartbroken over it, he was probably mad, and wondering what he had done to deserve the date from hell. She sighed, she'd have to be nicer, she'd be damned if Kaiba was a more cordial date than her. She didn't notice when they had stopped until a breeze of cool air her. Glancing up she saw the door she was sitting next to was open, and Kaiba had once again offered her his hand. She accepted and he helped her out of the limo.

"Look, Kaiba, let's have fun, okay?" She asked. Kaiba shrugged, and she sighed, following him to where Pegasus Night Under the Stars would take place. She gasped when she saw the setup, it was outdoors, and their was a white gazebo where some men we're playing classical music on their assorted violin looking instruments. There was a huge, sheer white canopy, where you could see the stars under. The tables had wine red table cloths, and little vases holding red and white candles. The area was fenced in with a white fence, strung through which numerous white lights added a soft glow to the surrounding area. There was also a small walkway, with small footlights leading to a giant dance floor, made of marble. Just behind the white fence we're beautiful and dazzling flowers, a wide variety of which Tea didn't know the name of, though she did recognize some roses and orchids. Kaiba led her to their seat, which had white place cards with neat gold hand writing on the table that read Kaiba and Company.

Kaiba pulled out her chair for her, and she took a seat, Kaiba sat across from her. Immediately a butler walked up to them.

"Can I get you anything?" He asked.

"Two glasses of Chateau d'Yquem Sauterne 1986" Kaiba ordered. The butler nodded cordially, as another waiter took his place.

"Hor d'oeuvres?" The man asked, holding out a circular metal serving plate with various different appetizers. Kaiba shook his head, and Tea grabbed a couple of crab cakes.

"Is that wine good?" Tea asked.

"Tea, this wine is some of the most expensive wine in the entire world, and no other wine earns it price like this one. In fact, this particular year, is legendary, and vary rare, but if I know Pegasus, he'll have plenty of bottles, since he comes from a long line of wine aficionados, who whenever they find a legendary bottle of wine from their year, immediately stock up on it by the hundreds, and leave it alone for years, its how he has the best wine collection out of anyone here." Kaiba said, nonchalantly. "I make sure to drink it every time I come, since this is one of the only places in the world to get it, and I want my bottle to be the last one." he added.

"Kaiba dahling." A fat woman wearing a skimpier dress than Tea cooed, it was black and strapless and barely covered up anything, her fat legs wobbling as she waddled over to them. She had on a white feather Boa, and white shoes, she was also obscenely covered in diamonds and smelled like old cheese.

"Mrs. Warner." Kaiba said, standing up to address the woman, he grabbed her hand, but she pulled him close into a tight embrace, crushing the skinner man. Then she kissed him on either cheek.

"How do you do?" She asked, pulling away, her Texan accent heavy.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Warner, you?" Kaiba asked, though Tea could tell he really didn't care.

"Oh I'm fine as always, and who is this lovely little bird." She asked, grabbing Tea and squeezing her tightly.

"I'm Tea Gardner." Tea said, pulling away.

"Oh, the ballerina." Mrs. Warner said, nodding approvingly. Tea eyes widened.

"You know who I am?" She asked.

"Of course dahling, a cultured person must see to it to know who everyone in cultured entertainments are. I love ballet, and Broadway, and if I hear a name, I can tell you who they are, even if I haven't seen their face. You were in the nutcracker, we're you not. Also Dark Magician Girl in the Moonlight?" She asked nodding sagely. Tea nodded. "Charmed to meet you." She said. Then she turned to Kaiba, who was taking a sip of his wine.

"Well butter my backside and call me a biscuit(1), you finally have yourself a girlfriend." She said smiling at Kaiba, who spat out the wine, choking. Tea shook her head vehemently.

"_Gardner is not my girlfriend!_" Kaiba said, wiping his mouth with a handkerchief.

"_That's right!_" Tea said, agreeing with Kaiba for the first time that night. The woman stared at them confused.

"I'm afraid your going to have to repeat that dear, I don't speak Japanese, oh look there's Mr. Turner, I must say hi, toodles." She said, waving her fan, and running up to him. Kaiba sat back down and sighed, he couldn't believe he slipped up and said it in Japanese, she'd probably go and tell everyone, because she couldn't understand his denial.

"Can you believe her? Me and you?" Tea said laughing nervously, the two laughed for a second, looking down and shaking their heads. Lifting her eyes up, she locked eyes with Kaiba, and the two got lost in each others eyes for a second as they stared at each. Looking down and blushing, Tea fiddled with her napkin.

"She seems nice." Tea said, trying desperately to end the awkward silence as they both refused to make eye contact, Kaiba suddenly finding his glass of wine fascinating, as Tea fiddled with her napkin, a deep blush on Tea's face, and a extremely light blush on Kaiba's as his pale skin betrayed him.

"Hn, I suppose she's sufferable." Kaiba said, taking a swig of wine.

"That's not a real word." Tea said, though she was shocked to feel no sense of pride in the fact she caught Kaiba making a mistake.

"I suppose not, bearable then." Kaiba said correcting himself, and taking the bottle from the waiter before he could pour him another drink. "She's one of the more important shareholders wife."

"I see." Tea said, then they both fell into an awkward silence again. Tea sighed, and Kaiba sighed at the same time, they both gave a nervous laugh, then Kaiba abruptly stood up and offered her his hand, slamming down his second glass of wine.

"Do you want to dance, or something." Kaiba said, deciding to end the awkward silence himself, forcefully. Tea nodded, anything was better than sitting there nervously, contemplating a relationship. Taking his hand, he dragged her to the dance floor, and putting one hand on the small of her back, clasped her other hand more formally. Tea put her other hand on his shoulder and got close, the two began to waltz. Tea was surprised to find that not only could Kaiba dance, but he was just as good as some of the best. Tea sighed, great the jerk now officially, had four of the ten ideal qualities of her perfect man: gentlemanly ( he had been pulling out chairs and holding open doors for her all night), handsome, good cook, and great dancer. She also had rich as her number eleven, and he sure as heck was that. She looked up at him, and instantly wished she hadn't his eyes, were so...a girl could easily get lost in them, they we're impossibly blue, like the ocean, and she was drowning in them. Time seemed to stand still, as they waltzed across the dance floor, each one suddenly losing track of time, as everything but the music, and the other person disappeared. They didn't even notice that everyone else had stopped dancing and were now standing in a circle, surrounding the two.

Mokuba came into the dance, adjusting his tie. Samantha had successfully detained him much longer than he intended, and he was even more late than usual, 45 minutes to be exact, 15 minutes over fashionably late to these sorts of things. Grunting he looked for the table, when he saw a huge crowd of people gathered around something. Scratching his head he wondered what all the commotion was about, taking off his suit jacket, he slung it over a chair that wasn't occupied with two wine glasses, and sat down, knowing he must've missed Tea and she'd been forced to sit with his brother. He looked around, where were they anyway, he thought glancing around. He looked at the crowd, his brother was no longer the tallest person there since this was America, and Americans were generally taller. Shrugging he stood up, it must be interesting if it had his brother's attention.

The music came to an end as Kaiba ended the dance, in a dip. She stared up into his eyes, and he stared at hers, Tea stared up at him. His face may not of showed her what he was feeling, and he hadn't put into the words, but there was definitely something there. She felt it in the way he danced, Tea realized he coming closer, as he brought her up slowly, Tea's eyes widened was he going to kiss her. They were interrupted by the sound of thunderous applause, Kaiba seem to snap out of his dream like daze, as did Tea, and Kaiba finished pulling her up, and the two took a small bow, as Mokuba came running up to them.

"Hi Tea, there you are, what happened I missed it." Mokuba asked, smiling as the crowd dispersed. Tea breathed in a secret sigh of relief, she had lost herself in Kaiba's eyes, and Mokuba had almost caught her.

"Nothing, just dancing with this jerk, since I had nothing better to do." Tea said, jokingly punching Kaiba in the shoulder.

"What do you mean 'there you are'" Kaiba asked, looking at Mokuba. "Were you expecting her?"

"Oh, erm, what do you mean?" Mokuba said eyes widening. "I was talking about you, how did you know she was going to be here."

"No, of course not, I saw her sitting at **_our_** table, and and demanded she get up, but she said that didn't know anyone here, and that she won the tickets in a contest." Kaiba lied. "So I allowed her to be graced by my presence."

"I thought you got the tickets from Yugi." Mokuba said scratching his head. Tea eyes widened.

"Oh, aha, erm, I got them from a contest held by Yugi, you see Mai wanted them too." Tea said, half truthfully, Mai did want the tickets, but Kaiba already had two, as did Mokuba.

"Oh, I see." Mokuba said nodding, Kaiba mouthing good save.

"Hey let's take pictures!" Tea said interrupting the two from thinking about it any further, seeing the paparazzi, and a trifold with a black, and blue background with white stars, the only area they were allowed to take pictures. Tea dragged them both over as Kaiba and Mokuba both rolled their eyes, neither of them usually posed for the camera. Tea saw Paris Hilton getting her picture taken, and sighed, now she owed Mai 50 bucks.

"Mr. Kaiba, Mr. Kaiba." They shouted, crowding around him as Paris made her way into the party. "Take a picture, please."

"An interview."

"Is it true your favorite color is blue."

"Mokuba Kaiba, is it true you've been jealous of your brother getting placed over you for most eligible bachelor."

"Mr. Kaiba." They shouted, waving microphones in their faces, Tea sighed it was a bit much. Kaiba and Mokuba stood back to back, next to the background, cameras immediately going off. Kaiba had an arrogant smirk on his face, his head cocked slightly to the side, arms folded across his chest. Mokuba's arms were folded against his chest too, but he had on a sweet, laid back smile, as he winked mischievously. Then Kaiba took a lone shot with his arms still folded across his chest, smirk still in place. Mokuba took a lone shot as well, but he put one hand on his knees, and winked, giving the v for victory sign. Pulling Tea in between them, they also each took a picture with her, Mokuba arm wrapped easily around her shoulder, a smile on both of their faces, looking as if they were friends for years, Kaiba merely standing next to them, looking bored out of his mind. One of the reporters sighed, Kaiba was notoriously bad about taking pictures, and rarely took more than two good ones, the rest of which he looked bored and increasingly more agitated. Then a smirk forming around his fat face, a mischievous glint his eyes, he smirked.

"Mr. Kaiba, are you or your brother seeing this woman?" He shouted. All the cameraman and reporters fell into a momentary hush as they realized their was two men, and one woman. A flurry of questions began popping up, and Kaiba pinched the bridge of his nose in agitation. Tea gulped, hoping neither of them betrayed their promise and claimed they were on a date with her, especially since they both would be telling the truth.

They both grabbed Tea, and kissed her on either cheek, Tea blushing, a cute startled look on her face. Both the boys had their eyes closed, as the paparazzi began snapping pictures like wild. The Kaiba brother's rarely gave picture gold such as that, and no one wanted to miss out on them, they were never cute, never out with friends, and never joked around, whatever had been put into their water, they were praising the powers that be for putting it into their drinks. Tea sighed in relief, as they headed towards their seats. Kaiba pulled out her chair for her, as Mokuba plopped into his.

"That ought to shut them up about anyone dating anyone else, I wish they would just stay out of our lives...Mokuba said, before pausing, "Hey Seto, why did you kiss Tea?" Mokuba asked.

Kaiba looked up startled. He had originally wanted to show he was the one on a date with her, he didn't know why, but he secretly wanted everyone to know it so they'd leave her alone. "I just wanted to shut them up, so I figured a platonic kiss on the cheek, would solve it, I mean...if I was dating her it would've been on the mouth, but a kiss on the cheek..." Kaiba offered lamely. Mokuba looked at him skeptically.

"She's not even your friend, besides friends don't kiss friends."

"Why did you?" Kaiba snapped.

"Erm, aha, that is, I just wanted to shut them up too, let's just drop it." Mokuba said putting his hands up defensively. Tea noticed the skeptical looks they gave each other before shrugging. "Hey Tea, want to go mingle, I can introduce you to all the important people." Mokuba asked. Tea shrugged, Kaiba started to get up to, but Mokuba put a hand up.

"I think I can handle it on my own." Mokuba said coldly.

"I didn't say you couldn't I just..." Kaiba began.

"Look, just because we both have to be at this stupid event doesn't mean I'm not still mad at you." Mokuba snapped. "Let's go Tea." Mokuba said dragging her along. "I'm surprised you didn't slap him, he really has some nerve, me and you are friends so it's okay...but after what he did to you the other day, he had no right to kiss you like that!" Mokuba said. Tea glanced back at Kaiba, something about the moment they shared at the dance floor made her forget about all of that, but she couldn't tell Mokuba that.

"I just didn't want to make a scene, thanks for saving me back there." Tea said smiling.

"No problem, I know my brother can be a real jerk, don't get me wrong I love him for more than anything or anyone in this entire world, and I would gladly give up my life to save his...but, that doesn't change the fact he's an ass." Mokuba said, running a hand through his hair. "But I'm going on to much, tonight is not about that." Mokuba said smiling.

"_Good Afternoon_, _Master Mokuba_."A tall, rail thin man said, shaking Mokuba's hand.

"Mr. Ohhira(2), nice to see you, and the word your looking for is Konban wa, not konnichi wa, Konban wa means good evening, or simply hello during the evening hours, and konnichi wa is good afternoon, its way to informal to pair the incorrect time of day greeting with sama." Mokuba said, sticking his had into his pants pocket.

"Well, I suppose that's why your the vice president and I'm not." The man said, combing a hand through his hair, the man looked to be about 3 years older than Kaiba or her, and had brown, cunning eyes, and perfectly trimmed blond hair. He wore a black suit with a orange shirt, and very dark orange tie. He reminded Tea of Halloween.

Mokuba smiled fake sweetly, "Thanks for the compliment, but I'm pretty sure if my brother wasn't the president, I wouldn't be vice president." Mokuba winked.

"Oh, Mokuba san, you do flatter me! But if I'm afraid it wouldn't be much of a company without you or your brother, now would it." He laughed, Mokuba laughing too, though the laughs didn't reach their eyes, they were being completely fake.

"Quite so, quite so." Mokuba said, smiling.

"Indeed." He said, turning his attention to Tea. "And who is this positively radiant young woman beside you?" He said flashing Tea a wolfish smile, Mokuba frowned.

"Tea Gardner. Pleased to meet you Mr.Ohhira." Tea said offering him her hand, He took it and bowed, planting a kiss on her hand.

"Charmed, I'm sure." He said, standing up. "Well than, I'll leave you two lovebirds be." He said walking off, Tea raised her hand about to say we're not a couple, but Mokuba grabbed her hand and begun to drag her off to the dance floor.

"C'mon, let's dance, and not to this stuffy old stuff, this isn't music, just a second." Mokuba said, running up the band, and telling them to disperse. He then pulled a CD out of his jacket, and popped it into the player that had been resting near their feet, providing ample accompaniment to their stringed instruments.

"Peace up, A town down..." Usher voice called out. Tea laughed a little as everyone stopped in their tracks as Mokuba jumped off the stage and walked over to Tea, holding out her hand, and beginning to dance, well too, Tea noted.

"What's wrong?" Mokuba asked her noticing her worried look.

"Are you sure this is okay?" She asked, dancing reservedly. Mokuba broke into a grin.

"Relax, your with me, unless you can't dance..." Mokuba teased.

"You think I can't drop it like it's hot?" Tea asked, posing like a rapper. Mokuba laughed, and Tea got more into the motions, and surprising Mokuba with just how good she was, he'd know she was phenomenal at more traditional dances, but he had no idea how well rounded of a dancer she really was. Still, no one had joined in. Pegasus smirked and got on the dance floor with them, and surprised everyone by doing the A-town stomp, and the Harlem shake. Soon everyone was dancing, many of them butchering it, but everyone having light hearted fun.

"Thunder clap Hey, thunder clap Hey, no rock away, rock away, and cut."

The song ended and everyone laughed, as the band once again began to play different music, but Mokuba looked up surprised it wasn't his song, he was surprised to see his brother and heard the distinct sound of Latin music.

"Mind if I cut in." Kaiba asked tapping Mokuba on the shoulder. Mokuba stared and him, but backed off, his brother was a sucker for Latin music, and one lucky girl always got to dance with him as he tangoed, and salsa danced his way into their hearts, he wondered if his brother even knew what he was doing to those girls, he could have had a ton of them by now, but he never took a single one home. Figuring it was innocent enough, Mokuba nodded.

"Want to Lambada?" Kaiba asked, a smirk on his face.

"But that's the forbidden dance!" Tea said gasping, "Maybe we shouldn't everyone is watching and..."

"I want them to watch." Kaiba said, pulling her close to him as they began to dance, Tea's long dance swishing with her as they gave everyone one hell of sensuous show. Kaiba dipped Tea all the way back, and then pulled her up, one leg wrapped around his waist, and her hand tangled against her hair, her arm dangled freely against her side, as Kaiba had his arms wrapped around her, seemingly kissing her arched neck (He wasn't however, much to Tea's disappointment) She gracefully turned around and with one hand still in his hair and slowly sliding down his chest, she sank to the ground, where she dipped under his legs and he pulled her up, and spun her so her back was against his chest, as the swayed to the beat of the music. Mokuba frowned as Kaiba grabbed her hand, and one extended and one arm behind him, he grabbed her hands, as she did and two moved in a circle, before Tea spun around and away from him, and danced back over, her hips keeping time with the beat of the music. Once again everyone was surrounding them, as they ended and Tea was dipped back so far Kaiba's arm was fully extended as she latched onto him with one leg around his waist, his other arm pulling him against her, the other on the ground for full support her back and neck arched as though the dance was so passionate it was turning her on. (Which although the actual dance move, it really was)

Mokuba frowned, and crossed his arm over his chest, so far, his brother was unintentionally out playing him, and he was not happy. "He doesn't even like her, no interest whatsoever he's just doing his damn Latin dancing and showing me up...she's definitely not like the other girls in my school, I need to think of another approach that won't catch my brother's attention but what..." Mokuba thought, tapping his finger against his chin as Tea struggled not to rip off the shirt of his older brother, or show she was affected in anyway. Mokuba smirked, as he thought of a plan.

I didn't come up with this line, Teen Titans did and I couldn't help but use it, I don't own Teen Titans either

In episode 148, Dawn of the Duel, The Creator Returns, Mokuba runs up to his brother and shows him a computer screen exclaiming someone just bought up a bunch of Kaiba Corps stock, on the screen in the Japanese version (its been digitized out in the American one) there's a pie chart showing S. Kaiba as the majority shareholder unsurprising, what is that followed by S.Kaiba is ? Who we're led to believe is Pegasus, but it's actually Alister with the help of Dartz, but what is interesting is after that its someone named Ohhira and then M.Kaiba, Mokuba actually doesn't own as much of the company as you'd think of course he doesn't need to since his brother owns most of the shares, but still...kind of shocking, so since I have no idea who this Ohhira person is, I decided to make some people up

A) You'll find out what pulchritudinous means later, cause Tea's going to look it up, its part of the plot but if you can't wait I suggest you look it up unless you already know ; but please don't post the meaning in a review since some people would prefer the plot reveal, thank you.

Alright my pretty's read and review, and tell me what you think of this Ohhira person, and tell me who you think Tea should end up with!! It won't be interactive ( I already got the plot set) but I'm interested in knowing peoples opinions on who she be with at different intervals in the story. Besides if I get enough reviews begging me to sway the story, I just might, don't know.


	5. A Night Under the Stars part 2

hDisclaimer: I don't own Yugioh

_Key_

_Japanese_

_**emphasis**_

Mrs. Valkner was a very...interesting woman, and a very powerful woman. Infact, her robust form screamed power, as the woman was not only 7'3, but also the size of a house, her three rippling chins and the fact that her fat folds practically made her entirely all to revealing red dress that while fell to the floor, barely covered her giant chest and had no sleeves showing off her arms the size of tree trunks went entirely uncommented on. Nor did anyone breathe a word about her yellowing, gapped teeth, or her thin gray hair. No, when every she asked someone how she looked, she always got the same look.

"Stunning, as usual." Mokuba Kaiba was no exception, for Mrs. Valkner was one of the few people at Pegasus event that was richer than him, richer than Kaiba, In fact, she was the only person there, since her husbands passing a year ago, who could ruin anyone there without so much as lifting her pinky finger, her family being one of the most powerful families in Germany for near a hundred years. That was certainly stunning, and if that didn't stun you her beady, sharp, green eyes did, there was even a rumor that her husband passed away by staring too deeply into them. Which was exactly why Mokuba had came and talked to her in the first place.

"Oh thank you darling, your too kind." She said bored, without a hint of an accent, just one more thing to add to her list.

"Anyway, as much as it is a pleasure to be in your company...maybe I'm being too forward." Mokuba said, rubbing the back of his head. She arched one of the ends of her unibrow, now this was interesting.

"Oh, not at all, do go on." She said suddenly a lot more interested, leaning forward, the smell of alcohol, cigarettes, body order and bad breath suddenly overpowered his senses, but he dared not show it. After all, Mrs. Valkner had the power to squash Kaiba Corp like a bug. Which was the precise reason he was talking to her.

"Well, you see, I suppose **_I'm_** not being too forward, more like my brother." He said laughing nervously, feigning embarrassment. "He wants to have a small, rendezvous with you in room...105..., you know what never mind I'll just tell him to quit being a jerk, sorry to have waisted your time." Mokuba said quickly, about to dash off. "Sorry he offended you, he can be pretty blunt." Then Mokuba moved to run away. She placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"No wait Mokuba, don't he so hasty. Now I normally I wouldn't do such a thing, but tell him I'd be delighted to." She said, a wolf like grin spreading across her features. Mokuba nodded and left, he almost felt bad for his brother, almost, but he needed some alone time with Tea if he was going to make his plan work.

"Big Brother, Mrs. Valkner wanted to talk with you." Mokuba said, just as Kaiba and Tea were about to sit down.

"With me? Hm, that's odd, V-Tech Industries makes cars."

"Yes, but they make other things too."

"Not games, holograms, or computer technology." Kaiba said, tapping his finger on his chin.

"Maybe she wants to capitalize on your success by making a blue eyes white dragon mini-van or some other Kaiba Corp related car?" Mokuba offered nervously, he had expected him to go running off, the woman as extremely important, and thus invited to everything, even if it had nothing to do with her.

"Well there's only one way to find out." Kaiba said standing up, "Where is she?"

"Room 105." Mokuba offered, Kaiba arched an eyebrow, but walked off anyway, he couldn't afford to keep the obscenely powerful woman waiting, besides whatever it was could only be good news for Kaiba Corp.

Kaiba waltzed into the room, and looked around. The room was a small bedroom, with a bed shaped like a heart. Kaiba snorted at the tacky red carpet and shimmery gauze that adorned the bed. It was like a cheap motel, all of the lights were turned off. He frowned did Mokuba give him the wrong room? Shrugging he turned to find the large woman when he heard the door lock click. Furrowing his brows his senses kicked into full alert.

"Mrs. Valkner." Kaiba called.

"Looking for me." She said flicking on the lights, she had a fur covered whip in her hand, and a bottle of champagne, one of her legs was on a chair, as she lifted her skirt to reveal her fishnet stalkings. Kaiba eyes widened, as he backed away.

"_Valkner sama, there must be some sort of misunderstanding._" Kaiba said, inching closer to the door.

"I love it when you call me Varkunar sama, say something else for me in Japanese." She said, sauntering over to him, and grabbing him by his arm. She traced his jaw with her sausage of a finger. Kaiba shuttered but said nothing too shocked to think or breathe, or react quickly enough to stop her as she crushed her mouth against his, cramming her tongue down her throat.

"_NO!_" Kaiba exclaimed when their mouths parted. She smirked.

"Good, yes indeed." She said, licking her lips. Kaiba looked at her in utter confusion.

She smiled her yellow gapped teeth bared, "Didn't think I knew Japanese did you, I must admit I know very little, but I do know that ii (pronounced E) means good, and ee (pronounced ay, or eh) means yes." She said loosening his tie.

But iie (pronounced as a combination of the other two) means no, Kaiba mentally screamed. He tried to tell her to stop but for some reason his mine drew a total blank when he tried to think about anything in English.h

"_Somebody get this cow off of me._" Kaiba whispered as she threw his tie to the side, and untucked his shirt from his pants, she began to unbutton his shirt leaving a trail of drool on his chest as she planted wet, sloppy kisses on his chest.

"So how many rounds do you want to go." She asked, tossing him onto the heart shaped bed.

"Nein" Kaiba said, finally grasping a foreign, word she'd understand, well foreign for him anyway.

"Nine, your really good for that many?" She whispered huskily, "Well I guess now I know why everyone calls you the fox."

Kaiba eyes widened, nine rounds. He let out a little yelp as his shirt was finally flung to the ground. She smiled and ran a finger through his hair, kissing him again, and once again cramming her tongue down his throat. Kaiba closed his eyes his senses overloaded, she tasted like vodka and garlic, she smelled like alcohol, cigarettes, and sweat. Her weight was overbearing as they sank into the bed, her fat surrounding his entire body, as he found out, she did indeed make three of him. She was also a good foot taller than him, so every inch of his body was covered in the fat woman as they sunk so deep into the mattress. He felt her finger trace his abs and then go down to his belt. Kaiba gulped.

"Kein bitte, weg von mir erhalten. Ich wünsche nicht dieses. Nein." Kaiba said, in heavily accented German. She stopped and stared at him, but made no move to get off.

"What do you mean get off of you, you don't want to, your the one that called me here." She said frowning, "Are you trying to make a fool out of me?" She hissed, shooting him a glare. Kaiba looked at her eyebrows knitted in confusion. His eyes widened, Mokuba did this. Kaiba realized, he bit his lip, he probably wanted to get back at him for whatever it was he had done wrong. Surely sending Tea to the insane asylum hadn't made Mokuba that mad.

"It's not that..." Kaiba assured her, placing his hands up defensively, suddenly finding his voice.

"Then what is this about." she hissed. Kaiba kicked his brain into high gear as he realized if he didn't think of something fast, he'd be in big trouble, this wasn't the average fan girl whose opinion or feelings didn't matter. This woman was huge, in more ways thsn one, and she could crush him like a bug, in more ways than one as well. Threating her physically was out of the question, not only because she was powerful but it wouldn't do to hit a woman besides, she'd win any physical altercation they got in, she was as big as man, a foot taller than him and three, almost four times as heavy, she was crushing him just by being on top of him, he didn't want to think about what would happen if she tried to hurt him. He also couldn't threaten her financially, she was more powerful than he was.

"I just not looking for a relationship right now." Kaiba offered, that couldn't possibly make her mad.

"Oh." She said relieved. "Seto," Kaiba cringed, he hated it when anyone but Mokuba used his first name, it was so rude, he had worked hard and earned the right to be called Kaiba sama, but she was foreign, and it wasn't rude to her. "I understand perfectly, I'm not looking for a relationship either, Rufus was the only one for me, but even women have needs..." She said her eyes scanning his body. Kaiba gulped that had backfired.

"Look I just don't want to..."

"Look Mr. Kaiba I don't care what you want, your the one who called me here, and now your going to make good on your promise or I will crush you like a bug." She threatened, returning to his lips and silencing anymore protest. Kaiba closed his eyes, he knew what she meant by that. Was this really the only way...he paused. Well if he couldn't reason with her, nor financially or physically attack her, there was one other way. He grabbed her hand before she could finish unclasping his belt.

"Please, Mrs. Valkner, I haven't done this before, and I want my first time to be with someone I love. I want what you and Mr. Valkner had." Kaiba said softly, letting his eyes shine with tears, he closed his eyes and turned his face dramatically as she stared at him. "Please, I know you loved him very much, you still call yourself Mrs. Valkner...I want that kind of love, I want the breakfast afterwards, I want to wake up lying next to my lover in our new home, I don't want it like this, in my rivals make out room with someone who I don't love, and who can't love me, you have to understand." Kaiba said, then letting his bangs cover his eyes. He inwardly smirked when heard her sniff and felt the bed rise as she got off of him.

"Rufus was my first, and I was his, that's a really special thing your doing that not enough youth appreciate anymore." She said, wiping away a tear. Kaiba smirked inside but said nothing as he put back on his shirt, deftly fastening the buttons and tying his tie. He was done in 30 seconds flat, a feat he prided himself on.

"I'm so sorry." She asked, taking a tissue and wiping away her tears.

"Its alright, I did call you here after all." Kaiba said, though he did no such thing, he couldn't afford for her to think he called her there to be humiliated or that Mokuba called her there because he thought it would be funny.

"What for then?" She asked, looking up confused.

"I want to challenge you to a poker game, I heard you'd build a custom one of a kind card, based off of anything I wanted, and would financially back any company whose majority shareholder could beat you." Kaiba said, cockily. "I think I can." And it was the truth, though he really only believed so because he never lost any game, barring Duel Monsters.

"Oh, I must've misunderstood your brother." She said, blowing a sigh of relief, so he wasn't out to humiliate her. "I suppose my English isn't as good as I thought it was."

"No, of course not, you speak English good." Kaiba offered.

"Its you speak English well dear." She corrected, a satisfied smirk on her face. Of course, he knew that, he only said it for the explicit purpose for her to correct him.

"See, everyone knows I speak English, Japanese, German, and French very...well?" He asked, she nodded, "Hai, err yes, very well but you still correct me. Maybe you should tutor my brother, he's not so good at English, so he is constantly giving people the wrong ideas because he says everything with such confidence people think he knows what he is saying." Kaiba said, nonchalantly. She nodded, Kaiba smirked inwardly, she had bought it all, hook, line, and sinker. If Kaiba Corp ever went under he knew he could easily make his riches back by acting.

"So let's get down to it." She said pulling a deck of playing cards from her the inside of her dress. Kaiba smirked, and they pulled out two chairs, on opposite ends of a table. Kaiba smirked, first he'd beat Mrs. Valkner for almost forcing herself on him, and then Mokuba would pay, little brother or not.

* * *

"Hey Tea, now that my brother is busy, I want to show you something." Mokuba said offering her his hand, Tea smiled and placing her hand in his, as he led her away from the party through a white picket fence he helped her climb, to a stunning garden filled with orchards, roses, and other assortments of flowers.

"Wow this area is beautiful, you sure Pegasus won't mind us being here." Tea said, tracing the rim of the fountain with her finger. The stone was alabaster, and was carved in the form of a dream sprite pouring water from a jug, her wings outstretched.

"Who cares what Crawford sama thinks." Mokuba said spitting the name and taking any implied honor out of the honorific attached to Pegasus's name. Tea smiled.

"Good point." She said taking a seat on the edge of the fountain, surprised to find there were tiny little fish in there. Mokuba sat next to her, and smiled.

"How did you know this was here?" Tea asked, staring up at Mokuba, it was all so beautiful, with the star filled sky, the gorgeous flowers, the cobble stone paths, and of course the fountain. Mokuba smirked.

"I'd always sneak off when big brother was mingling with the masses." Mokuba said shrugging, "I didn't actually have to mingle too until I turned 15."

"I see, hm, never pictured your brother as the mingling type." Tea said, trailing a finger lazily against the water, and smiling whenever the fish scattered, it was so beautiful, the way the moonlight hit the pond making it seem like it shimmered with crystals. Mokuba frowned, he needed to change the subject from his brother.

"He hates it, he only does it because you have to exchange all these fake pleasantries and pretend that you mean it, for instance whenever were at these stupid things, Pegasus always comes up to my brother and says long time no see, and my brother always says far too long, neither of them mean it but its not exactly like anyone would believe my brother if he told them about Duelist Kingdom, in fact the dueling arena is one of the only places he can let out all of his frustrations and say whatever he wants about him, besides private conversations of course."

"Of course." Tea said, looking up at Mokuba. "But Kaiba doesn't seem like the kind who'd say something, so nice to someone he hated."

"If it was anyone else but Pegasus, or anywhere else but the public eye, he wouldn't." Mokuba said bluntly. Tea knitted her brows in confusion.

"You see, Pegasus never bothers him about losing to him at Duelist Kingdom in public, just on the duel arena and private conversations, but never in public, because Pegasus needs my brother to manufacture all this dueling equipment which is really what kept the game alive, few people knew or cared about Duel Monsters until my big bro came out with the duel disk."

Tea nodded, that was true, she, Joey and Tristan, on the day they met Kaiba was also the first day hey'd heard of Duel Monsters, then called Magic and Wizards. No one really cared, and when Yugi played the game at school, everyone asked him what it was. It seemed like a hundred years ago, considering how inextricably it was woven into the fabric of their high school lives. But really, it was only a few years ago, she'd been 16 then, she was 23 no, so she started she couldn't believe it was that long ago, 7 years, almost a decade. It seemed like only yesterday she was crushing on the Pharaoh, knowing they could never be because he was not of their world, or time.

"But what about your brother?" She asked, cocking her head to the side, it didn't really seem like he'd give a care what Pegasus needed for his company to survive.

"**_We_** need the license to market our products as official Duel Monsters products, if we didn't have his permission to use his company's trademark, that would be copyright infringement, highly illegal, and potentially the end of any company, since wants you've been convicted of that, theirs no telling what else you were doing illegal in the eyes of the consumer."

"So no matter how much you hate him, you still have to maintain contact with him, even though they both have a mutual understanding of each others hatred of each other, and they're constantly fight and insult and are rude to each other in private, and on the dueling arena where its considered banter and strategy, but in public, they pretend to be civil for the sake of both the companies."

"You got it, though I don't really think that Pegasus hates my brother, more likes enjoys seeing him ticked off. They aren't that nice to each other in public either since they know the other one won't cut off all ties with the others company, but they certainly don't want to shake faith in either company, so its toned down a lot." Mokuba said, frowning, still waiting for her to give him an opening, why was she suddenly so interested in his brother anyway.

"Wow, it sounds so complicated." Tea said, staring at the cobblestone, mentally adding I'd never fit in. Mokuba noticed her change in posture and sudden mood swing, and realized what she must be thinking, almost every normal girl who was thrown into his opulent life always thought the same two things, either I'd never fit in, or cha-ching, he preferred the former, though the latter was great for guilt free one night stands. Judging by her posture, the way her eyes were cast to the ground, and the way her lips had turned slightly downward, he could guess which one it was, which was perfect actually since he finally had his opening.

"Yeah, the people here are really fake. I mean, their interesting and should be respected, most everyone has their good traits, but I like people like you better."

"Like Me?" She asked, looking up at Mokuba, he hadn't been so forward last time they were together, did he feel the same way about her as she did about him. She steeled her resolve, of course he did she had once saved his life, but he was too young, she couldn't take advantage of him like that.

"Yes, why not like you, your beauty and eloquence comes from the beauty inside your heart, not a needle or knife. You smile is far more dazzling then anyone heres, the women heres teeth are, too white, they look fake. And your eyes shine so brightly, the stars envy them, because your intelligent and good, you know eyes are said to be the gateway to the soul." Mokuba said inching closer. Tea blushed no one had ever said anything that nice about her.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "Mokuba..." She wanted to thank him, and emphasize how none of her **_friends_ **had ever said anything so nice to her before, but she the words died on her lips, as she looked up into his warm, beautiful storm gray eyes. It wasn't fair, how did the Kaiba brothers get blessed with such great genes, their eyes were magnificent and made it her for her to speak. Mokuba frowned, he had her thinking as more than just a friend, now it was time to spit some game. He could see, but she was having reservations, her eyes were saying lets go, but her brain was still saying no.

"I knew it." Mokuba said, Tea looked up at him.

"Knew what?"

"You think with your heart, your a kinesthetic person, you live in your emotions. That's why you use to yell at my brother, that's why you cared so much, back then, even though you didn't know him."

"That's true, how did you know." She asked, looking up at him surprised. She knew yelling at him could get her into a lot of trouble, she wasn't stupid, it was just that, she knew his life had went so utterly wrong and she felt terribly about it, she couldn't heed her brain's warning to stop, she just had to try to breakthrough to him, she just had to because in her heart she had known it was the right thing to do.

"When you were thinking, just now, your eyes moved downward, and to the left. It's one of seven eye positions that what your eyes told me about you, eyes really are the gateway to the soul you know."

"Wow, that's amazing!" Tea said shocked, when had Mokuba gotten so smart. "I always found that kind of stuff interesting, hey can you tell if someone is lying."

"Yeah." Mokuba said nodding.

"I'd love to do that, It would be so useful, you could certainly tell if someone was lying to you on date or something like that." Tea said smiling, suddenly she panicked, did that mean that he knew she had been lying earlier. "Hey have you used that on me."

"I'd never do that, its just I lost in your eyes just now, and couldn't help it." Mokuba offered, Tea felt relief wash over her, she smiled again. Mokuba was every bit as impressive as his brother, but then with Seto Kaiba raising you, you'd have to learn something. Mokuba allowed an easy break of silence wash over them, too much talking was irritating.

* * *

Kaiba looked down at his hand, they were playing best out of five hands, to accommodate for luck of the draw. He had a full house, but he let a look of disappointment wash over him as he looked over at Mrs. Valkner.

"I call." He said, pretending to sound like he was bluffing confidence as he slid some chips onto the table. She smirked, he was obviously faking confidence, he must not have anything she thought.

"Ok, how many do you drop." She asked, Kaiba threw away his three aces. She arched an eyebrow, he really doesn't have anything. She dropped one card and looked at her hand, a straight flush. She smirked, I raise 5000 dollars.

"I call." Kaiba said, a huge, grin on his face. She frowned hadn't been expecting that, could he have drawn three good cards. "Show them." Kaiba said, she showed off her hand, and Kaiba smirked, showing his.

"Looks like the goddess of victory is on my side." Kaiba said, showing his hand, "TWO PAIR, twoooo pair." Kaiba said, tossing them on the table. She stared at his hand in disbelief.

"Three of a kind beats two pair, idiot." She said, shaking her head.

"No it doesn't." She frowned, pulling out her what beats what card, see, two pair only beats a pair and a high card. Kaiba frowned, "But I have two twos."

"You have to call twos wild before you deal the cards." She said, massaging her forehead. "Who did you say you played with."

"Do get cocky, I play with my personal assistant all the time, and I always win." Kaiba snapped. She stared at him for a couple of seconds, his assistant obviously lost on purpose since his job was to keep Kaiba happy, she smirked.

"You know what Seto, I just realized if you win you get a car, prestige, and money, but If I win, what do I get, nothing."

"You don't want to play for clothes do you." Kaiba asked feigning nervousness, though really the idea disgusted him, it would be his loss no matter which way it ended up if that happened. He visibly shuttered at the thought of seeing her without her dress, she thought it was because he was scared.

"No, of course not, I already know how you feel on the matter, but I'm thinking, if you get money, why shouldn't I, but of course there's really nothing you could offer me, except Kaiba Corp." She said, her beady, penetrating green eyes narrowing. Kaiba stared at her.

"You want my company?" He asked, feigning nervousness, of course he expected her to try to take advantage of him, it was his entire reason for losing the round on purpose.

"Yes, of course to make it fair, you should get about, 45 of my company, after all that's all your net worth could buy." She said nodding, and that was if he sold not just his company, but everything he possessed down to the clothing on his body, and all of his brothers stuff, and all of his shareholders investments illegally. She had long ago assessed his threat to her company, but was glad when she found he'd never be able to own 51.

"Deal." Kaiba said, "But I must warn you, not that I got my this handy little what's beat what card, I know I can win." Kaiba said, looking for a piece of paper. "And so you can't back out of it, lets get it in writing." His stepfather's lessons were good for something, he'd once promised to be a kind, loving, TV like father if he could beat him in go, Kaiba like a fool had believed him, and they shook on it. Kaiba won, but his father laughed at him, beat him for being a fool and telling him to always get any such bets in writing.

"Oh Seto, I'm so hurt, don't you trust me." She pouted. Kaiba smiled, "Of course, but I really want a blue eyes white dragon car, and I want to guarantee that I get it, that you won't back out to save face, everyone would believe you!" Kaiba exclaimed, finding a computer and within 5 minutes drawing up an ironclad contract that was so good it was now being taught in law schools all across the world as the Kaiba Contract, a contract no one had ever penetrated. She however was falling for his devotion to his blue eyes bit, he could tell by the way her eyes softened and a sweet smile spread across her face, he almost felt bad for her, and his real father almost survived his car accident, almost was such a tricky word.

"Hm, maybe after you lose I'll just give you the stupid car." She laughed and meant it, the boy was too cocky for his own good, and too blinded by his devotion to his favorite Duel Monsters card, maybe if had more diversity in his deck, instead of some useless cards with the soul purpose of getting his blue eyes white dragon out, he'd of beat Yugi Moto by now. She smiled, but just like he was blinded by his supposed superiority in Duel Monsters, he was blinded by his personal assistant creating a false since of superiority in poker as well. She smiled, she'd have to remember to give his assistant a nice severance package as a thank you when she fired him. Signing the document, Kaiba signed it too, and then he scanned himself a copy and emailed it to himself, tucking the hard copy into his jacket pocket.

She dealt the next hand.

* * *

Mokuba listened to the music for a second, enjoying the comfortable silence that had befallen them as Tea left her finger still in the water, and watched as a fish swam up to it, slowly, carefully she pulled her hand up and gently traced the surface of the water, creating ripples in her wake, the fish greedily following her finger. Mokuba smiled, enough time had passed, any longer and she'd start to get bored.

"Looks like your having fun." Mokuba said.

"I'm just thinking, I bet you already knew that." Tea answered, smiling. Mokuba smiled back.

"About what."

"About how amazing it would be to have super powers, although you seem to have the mind reading thing on lock." Tea giggled. Mokuba laughed too, that was the first time anyone had jumped to that, but Tea was unique. He had to stay focused though.

"You can do it, I know you can." Mokuba offered, lets start small, I know I'll pick a number from one through ten, and then you guess what I picked." Mokuba said. "And to prove I'm not lying, I'll write it down first." Mokuba said pulling a small notebook and pen from inside his pocket, clicking it flashily, he wrote down the number 7.

"Hmm, is it, seven." Tea asked, closing her eyes in thinking, Mokuba smiled and nodded, showing her the paper. Tea jaw dropped, she didn't know why, but she had known it would be a number seven, maybe hanging around Yugi and the millennium necklace had rubbed off on her. Mokuba breathed a sigh of relief, almost 70 of people picked the number seven, but Tea's mind was so unique he hadn't been sure she'd fall for it.

"See, its all about being able to read people." Mokuba said leaning close to her. "Feel what's inside peoples hearts and minds, it takes a special kind of person to be able to do that Tea, someone who's giving and doesn't think twice about putting the needs of others before their own. Only a real special woman would be able to that Tea, and your special." He said, leaning close. Tea found herself once again lost in her eyes.

* * *

Mrs. Valkner dealed the next two hands, Kaiba looked down at his cards briefly and kept glancing back and forth at the what beats what card, seemingly lost in debate

"What do you want to drop?" She growled, irritated. Kaiba's brows furrowed, before nodding and dropping two cards, he had to appear like he was being careful, in reality he had just dropped two kings, but a straight flush beat his current hand, and so he went for it, which was a stupid move, he should have stood pat, he should've kept the three kings he had, and dropped the other two cards, he had a better chance, especially with the twos now being wild, but he was making mistakes on purpose. She looked over at him, he suddenly had sobered up, a nervous look on his face. She looked and saw him gulp.

"I raise 3000" he said, they were playing with 10,000 dollars, so far he had lost 5000, he'd lose another three here.

"I call." She said unsure, he had the what beats what cards now.

"Three of a kind." Kaiba said, smugly, she sighed, at least this time was better, three of a kind was a okay, hand, just not good enough.

"Flush." She said, showing off her hand, Kaiba frowned, and banged his fist on the table as he slid her his money. She smirked, she'd never seen the CEO so hot under the collar.

* * *

"I'm really not so special, you, though, Mokuba that's amazing." She breathed, suddenly feeling his body heat as they now were so close to each other.

"But you are Tea." Mokuba said reassuringly. "And thanks." He added cockily. Tea laughed.

"Now don't go getting the big head," Tea joked, lightly pushing his arm, "Its just you've grown into such an amazing man." She added. Mokuba smiled, that was the first time all night she'd acknowledged him as a man, not a boy who had grown so much, but a man.

* * *

Kaiba looked and bit his lip as his third hand was dealt, his eyes widened and he pretended to be horrified at his hand, in fact he was estatic, he had a royal flush, the odds were astronomical but he had gotten it, he had expected to have to bluff his way to victory, something he done to so many people before, letting them win a couple rounds, making them overconfident, so that when they ultimately lost everything, they'd know he was playing them the whole time. Mrs. Valkner looked over at him, and smirked, she had him, may as well finish him off now, and get it over with, sure they were going best of five, and she was about to win, but she wanted to add insult to injury and take the rest of the money at the table.

"I'm going all in." She said, pushing her 18,000 dollar onto the table, Kaiba looked up at her, the only way he stood a chance was to go all in too, which of course had been exactly what he wanted in the first place.

"I'm all in then, I'm not giving up this company without a fight!" Kaiba said, balling his fist together, over dramatically, she smirked, he had an awful hand was trying to act overconfident to get her to make a dumb move, he may not be able to play poker, but he's a master manipulator she thought. If it had been anyone else they would've been fooled by his confidence never knowing that he had lousy hands, but she wasn't known for her poker skills for nothing.

* * *

Mokuba inwardly did a victory dance, he wasn't known as a player for nothing. Tea was eating at the palm of her hand, now if he played his next move right, he'd either have her right where he wanted her, or, she'd be feel like he was playing her and run, Tea wasn't the kind of girl who would like to know she'd been played, nor would Mokuba ever tell anyone or gloat about it. He didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, he just wanted to have fun, all of his one night stands he had continued to call. He forcibly changed their relationship with him to just friends, and he still called them from time to time, letting them break off the friendship or relationship with him, all the while making them think it was their idea. Just because the girl who was a slut didn't mean she had to feel like she was one. Most of the girls had low enough self esteem as it was and he didn't intend to add to that hurt, so left a trail of bread crumbs they mindlessly followed that led to being just friends, that way they got the self esteem boost of being friends, and former lover with Mokuba Kaiba, and well the benefit to him was quite obvious.

"Hn, well your not so bad yourself." Mokuba said, the two laughed, and Mokuba grinned easily, allowing his hair to fall just slightly into his face, knowing most girls liked it better that way. "I'm serious Tea, your amazing." Mokuba said, turning her chin towards him, he closed his eyes and leaned in for the kiss.

* * *

"Well, how many do you want to drop." She asked, Kaiba smirked.

"I think I'll stand pat." He said, coolly, leaning back in his chair. Her jaw dropped, he knew the terminology? But that meant...she frowned, it didn't matter, she only needed one more card, to have four of a kind, she had two chances. Dropping two cards she smirked, one of the cards was three utterly useless, but the card she was most happy about was her two, which was wild thanks to him, she'd beaten him by his own rule.

"Show your cards." Kaiba said smirking.

* * *

Tea eyes widened, was he really going to? As Mokuba inched his face closer, she knew her answer. But what she should she do? She wondered. Then she remembered Mai's advice, about what she should do, she anything happen.

* * *

"Looks like your own little deuces wild rule, is your down fall Seto Kaiba." She said turning over her cards, a king of diamonds, a king of spades, a king of clubs, a three of diamonds, and a two of spades.

* * *

Leaning in, she kissed Mokuba, meeting his lips the rest of the way, she'd blame it on the wine later.

* * *

"Well, I admit you are pretty good." Kaiba said shakily. She smirked, she knew it, she had won. "But as they say all good things must come to an end." Kaiba said revealing his hand,An ace of hearts, a king of hearts, the king she had needed, the queen of hearts, the jack of hearts, and a 10 of hearts, the perfect hand, a royal flush. Her face paled, she had just lost 45 of her company, all of her shares, but she was still the president, and the rest of her board were extremely loyal to her.

"Oh, and for trying to force yourself on me, your fired." Kaiba said disgustedly. She frowned.

"Don't get cocky, that's not a decision you can make." She growled.

"Really, but your forget, I already owned 6 of your company, combining your shares with my shares gives a grand total of 51, your precious loyal board members have no say in the matter. You know you really should've payed more attention to who wasn't coming to the meetings." Kaiba said smirking.

"Er, I don't understand, how...I was dominating the whole match, you must have cheated." She hissed slamming her meaty fist on the table, her diamonds clicking.

"No, I led you on from the very beginning, the second you believed my bluffs and got cocky, was the second you sealed your on fate. And speaking of bluffs, I lied when I said I was saving myself for marriage, you just disgust me." Kaiba said, leaving the room. He paused at the doorway, thinking for a minute. "I guess now you know why the call me the fox."

Kaiba patted the video camera, which had already streamed right to his computer, her computer, and Pegasus security cameras backup systems, the camera was really more of a security measure, just in case someone tried to kidnap him, Mokuba wore one too, but it certainly had other uses, like verifying contracts in lieu of a cosigner. Kaiba smirked, walking towards the table.

* * *

Mokuba stood up, offering Tea his hand, she linked her arm with his and rested her head on his shoulder, she wanted to walk back together through the garden, even if they'd have to separate once they got into the public, after all she could just blame it on the wine. Mokuba looked down at Tea, and smiled strolling back to the table.

* * *

"And that's how you play the game." Kaiba and Mokuba both thought at the same time as they made their way back to the table. Kaiba got there just as Mokuba and Tea had taken their seats, Mokuba looked at his brother and noticed he had a huge grin plastered to his face. Mokuba eyes widened, the reason his brother had yet to go a date couldn't be because he was attracted to people who liked Mrs. Valkner, could it?

"Hey, hey, honorable older brother(1), you look pleased."

Kaiba glared at his brother, folding his arms across his chest, "_Don't think because I'm pleased, your not in trouble, your grounded, for a month, no car, no friends, no girls, no games_!" Kaiba gritted out, he was about ready to scream at the boy, the situation ended up doubling his net worth, but it could've ended badly, very, very badly, and he wasn't just thinking about losing Kaiba Corp. Kaiba grabbed his suit jacket, and put it back on. "_Get your things we're leaving._" Mokuba hung his head, obviously his brother was ticked, and had only been happy because he had escaped out of the awkward situation unharmed. Knowing their was no use arguing after what he done, all three stood up to leave. Tea utterly confused, Mokuba nervous, and Kaiba as happy as a clam. Pegasus sauntered over to them.

"My, my, Kaiba boy, leaving so soon?" He asked, a creepy grin on his face. Mokuba eyes widened when Kaiba punched him out, and continued to walk off, stepping over his body. Tea and Mokuba helped him up out of reflex, Mokuba muttering a quick apology, Tea blaming it on the wine, which she found really was a cure all for these sorts of events. Pegasus dusted himself, grinning creepily again, as everyone stared on in shock.

"Who knew Kaiba boy was such a light weight, no more wine for him." Pegasus said, and everyone laughed, breathing a sigh of relief. Pegasus wasn't blind though, security guards had informed of 6 different people making out in his rooms, two couples in a makeout room, and a foursome in his jacuzzi, he'd also been informed of Kaiba's takeover of V Tech industries, and Mokuba Kaiba and Tea Gardners small, chaste, kiss. He knew everything that went on in his own house. Smirking, he went to entertain some more guests, Kaiba boy may have been suddenly worth twice as much, but if he was right about the way Kaiba boy and Tea had been dancing, then he knew a way to knock him down a peg, when the time came, of course.

Once in the limo, Mokuba stared at his brother in open shock. "_What was that?_" Mokuba asked, confused.

"_Guess who's the new majority shareholder, and president of V Tech Industries, thereby doubling their net worth_?" Kaiba said, a smirk on his face as he pulled a contract out of his pocket. Mokuba eye's widened. "Ah, et elle me forcent à faire certaines choses qui demeureront pour toujours inexprimées, et cela a presque fonctionné. Vous avez de grands ennuis cette fois." (2)

Mokuba gulped, and decided against saying anything more for the rest of the ride back. Tea for her part, stared at the Kaiba brothers in one day, not only was Mokuba amazing, apparently Kaiba was too, she'd always known he was a ruthless businessman, but she never really realized how good, until he doubled his net worth in one night, at a cocktail dance no less. Everyone knew how big a deal V Tech Industries was, but now their were going to be merely a subsidiary of Kaiba Corp. Everyone was so absorbed in their own thoughts, the rest of the ride was quiet, while Kaiba's thoughts were a big on the sadistic side, as he gleefully thought of all the things his new found power could do, Tea's were on a far more loving side, though most definitely not innocent as she contemplated the Kaiba Bros, Mokuba was just thinking about how not to get in trouble.

Once Tea got back to her house, blowing a kiss that both brothers thought was for them, stunning Kaiba, was his dancing really that good, and reassuring Mokuba on her feelings about him, she calmly walked into the house, and then began dancing. Mai came out of the kitchen, a pot in her hand.

"How'd it go hun?" She asked. Tea merely hummed, dancing over to her and smelling what was in the pot.

"You were right Mai," Tea said sticking her finger into the pot, and tasting the sauce, as Mai shot her look, "I really shouldn't of drank so much wine." Mai eyes widened as she ran to the kitchen, tossing the sauce on simmer, and adding salt, she ran back into the living room wiping her hands on her lilac apron.

"What happened." Mai asked, Tea smirked humming a little bit more, as she casually flipped looked through her books. Stopping at the dictionary, she paused. Did she really want to know what Kaiba had said, deciding what his body had told her on the dance floor did make her want to know, she scrolled through the words. Besides Mai was obviously getting frustrated.

"What happened hun?"

"Nice apron." Tea said, Mai glared at her.

"It keeps my clothes nice, now answer my question." Mai said, Tea found the entry she was waiting for.

"I'm really am on cloud 9" Tea said, staring at the entry.

"What?" Mai snapped.

"Listen to this, Pulchritudinous, characterized by having great physical beauty and appeal, used of persons only. Synonyms: beautiful, bewitching, dazzling, exquisite, statuesque, stunning, _**symmetrical.**_" Tea read off. Tea hugged the dictionary and fell back on the couch. Kaiba liked her too, he had just expressed himself in a very Kaiba like way. She felt bad for slapping him now.

"What does that have to with anything?" Mai asked, scratching her head.

"Its what Kaiba called me when he picked me up, I thought it was another way to say putrid, cause they, I don't know why but it doesn't sound like a very nice word." she explained. Mai sat down next to her.

"That's it Kaiba stated the obsessive?" Mai asked, frowning, she wanted better dirt than that.

"Nope, I also kissed Mokuba Kaiba." Tea said nonchalantly, Mai almost fainted.

"WHAT?"

"And I danced the lambada with Kaiba." Tea added.

"That's the forbidden dance." Mai gasped.

"Oh, and the Kaiba are apparently twice as rich as they were before, well good night." Tea said shrugging and about to get up. Mai pulled her back down.

"You have to tell me everything!" Mai exclaimed.

"Sorry a gentleman never kisses and tells." Tea said, grinning.

"But a lady tells everyone of her girlfriends immediately after, so spill."

"Nope, sorry, lock and key, I'm like a vault, your not getting anymore details out of me." Tea said, pretending to lock up her mouth.

"Oh C'mon." Mai whined.

"Okay, here's what happened." Tea said leaning forward, telling Mai all of the details of her night with the Kaiba brothers.

* * *

I updated, yay! I must say I was overwhelmed by the number on responses from the last chapter, I've never gotten 9 reviews for any of my other stories. (ducks head in shame) Anyway, the response was so overwhelming I updated this before Karaoke Nights 2, hint hint to all fans of bot h stories, reviews make the authoress very happy, and more inclined to post. After all what's the point of posting on the website, if no one reviews, Id write the stories anyway for practice, and I already know how I feel about myself as a writer, I want others opinions too, ya know? So review

1, Honorable Older Brother is Niisama in English, the sama adding the honorable part and changing big to older, after all Honorable big brother sounds, weird.

2, Kaiba said, "Oh, and she almost forced me to do certain things that will forever not be mentioned. Your in big trouble this time."

Also, I got Mokuba's eye/ 7 thing from a guy who was in this secret society of flirts and apparently could've picked up Britney Spears (pre K-Fed not so slutty Britney), its not exactly the same but similar, the statistic about 1-10 thing is, and true, he wrote an aritcle about it in Esquire, and he wrote a book about the society, in case anyone's interested. I made up the name V Tech industries, however, i have no idea if their really is a company named that, so i must say that any resemblance to that company, real or imagined, is purely coincidental. (Just felt like putting that there since it's a name anyone could easily have come up with)

As always, read and review.


	6. Swept Away

uDisclaimer: I do not own Yugioh

_Japanese_

_**emphasis**_

__flashback/

* * *

Tea stretched her arms above her head, and let out a bored sigh. Since Kaiba had a very important meeting even he couldn't reschedule, and Tea had dance rehearsal, (not that it really mattered since she was an understudy for this particular play, and would only actually play the part for one night), they wouldn't be seeing each other until later that night. Still she couldn't complain, after all there were no small parts, just small people. The play was on Broadway, and even though she was the understudy in a musical for a psychotic mother whose only scenes were in the first act (the musical was three acts), she couldn't complain, after all it was on Broadway, and being the understudy for a minor character on Broadway was better than being the headliner on a small stage no one would see, which meant her career was moving forward. She smiled, even when she was in high school, whenever she told everyone her dream she'd always say she wouldn't say Broadway, because it seemed to be too far away, too unattainable. It was also a great honor to be understudy to Jacqueline Beaumont, the famed prima ballerina from France, and Tea had learned a lot from her.

"Alright, that is enough for today, practice memorizing your lines, and remember people practice makes permanent, so perfect those beautiful moves ladies and gents." Mr. Booker, the plays director said clapping his hands. Standing up and stretching Tea went to the locker room, changed out her clothes and left the dance studio they were rehearsing in. She frowned, now what to do. She supposed she could just head back home, but that didn't seem as fun now that Kaiba wasn't there to bother her, a fact that deeply disturbed her. Shrugging, she headed towards Kaiba Corp, after all, when a snake bit you, you had to suck out the venom, you couldn't just ignore the problem. So since her not liking the idea of going to her own house was definitely a huge bite in the rear end, she had to find out what her venom was, the lack of Seto Kaiba, or the fact that there was nothing to do at 2:00 in the afternoon on a Tuesday.

Tea dropped her bags into her car, and parked just outside his office. She frowned, wondering if they'd let her see him. She shrugged, she'd remembered reading in a magazine once that if you strolled into anywhere like you owned the place, and was supposed to be there, than no one would question your presence. Holding her head up high, she strutted into the building, through the metal detectors, and up the elevator, onto the top floor. Walking with confidence she slammed her hands down onto the secretaries desk, causing the older woman, looking to be well into her late 40s to look up at her, without the least bit of surprise. Tea fought the urge to roll her eyes, all of Kaiba's clients must be just as rude as he was. The woman frowned, looking Tea up and down with her blues eyes in a scrutinizing manner. The woman was the epitome of uptight, with her blond hair swept up into a tight bun, and her suit a no nonsense charcoal gray, buttoned all the way to the top where her perfectly crisp white collar folded down flatly, as if afraid to move out of place.

"May I help you?" She asked curtly, giving Tea a look of disapproval.

I demand to see Mr. Kaiba right now." Tea growled narrowing her eyes, while trying desperately to stop herself from giggling, this was actually kind of fun. The woman raised an eyebrow, and turned toward her computer.

"Do you have an appointment?" She asked, Tea's face faltered for a moment, but she quickly gathered up her courage.

"Yes, under the name Washington." Tea said, looking away and sliding the woman a dollar bill. The woman stared up at Tea and back down at the dollar bill, coughing she took the dollar bill and slipped it into her pocket.

"Go ahead and have a seat, Ms. Washington." She said motioning towards a large leather couch directly across from her. "Can I get you anything water, coffee perhaps."

"I think I'll take a coffee." Tea said, walking with a swagger to the couch, and plopping down, she smirked, she couldn't wait to tell Kaiba his impenetrable security could be brought down by a dollar bill, chump change even for her. After a good five minutes watching the woman type on her computer, she coughed.

"When did you say I could see him, I'm a very busy woman." Tea said, this time unable to control herself from giggling like a school girl, she knew full well she was being ridiculous, but, she was also incredibly bored, and Kaiba was going to relieve that boredom whether he liked it or not. Plus their was no way that he wouldn't see her, as he practically belonged to her for another six days.

"Just wait a moment." The secretary said, picking up the phone and sliding back into her chair. "Yes, she's still here..." Tea heard the woman say, Tea smirked, Kaiba was trying to hide from her, well that certainly wasn't going to work. The woman hung up the phone, smiled at Tea, and went back to typing. Tea heard the elevator ding, and smiled jumping up to see Kaiba, only to see two men clad in blue security uniforms walk over to her.

"Miss, we're going to have to ask you to leave." The smaller of the two said hesitantly, clutching his mace, and rubbing his nightstick, as if he expected her to lounge at him.

"What I said I wanted to talk to Kaiba, I'm not some weirdo stalker, I'm his friend!" Tea said incredulously. The smaller man snorted,as the other one clamped his hand over his mouth, as if Seto Kaiba had any friend, he'd made it perfectly clear he didn't at basic training, it was working for Kaiba Corp 101.

"Yeah sure lady, and I'm Kelly Clarkson" The taller of the two grunted, a large hairy man that looked like he could be this missing link.

"Well excuse me Miss Independent, but your in my way, now if you excuse me, I want to speak to Kaiba." Tea said, trying to push through the men, Tea grabbed her however, and the taller of the two hoisted her over his shoulder.

"Goodbye Miss Washington!" The secretary called as Tea was carried away.

Getting into the elevator they took her down to the first floor, but this time through a back way stepping off the elevator Tea saw another pair of guards carrying a young man, clad in pink, with a bright orange wig on, they threw them both out onto the alleyway, and locked the door.

"You don't understand, I'm carrying his baby!" The man shouted, his deep voice ringing throughout the alleyway, Tea frowned, and dusted herself off, Kaiba was doing extra chores tonight.

* * *

"Mokuba, wassup man, I ain't seent you in a hot minute, where you at?" Mokuba's friends voice rang from the other end of the phone. Mokuba frowned trying to place the face of the person speaking to him on the other end of the phone, he had so many friends, that their number one complaint about him was that they hadn't been able to talk to him in a long time. Now if he were anybody besides a party hopping, teenage billionaire, they probably would've just lost touch. But Mokuba was the life of every party he walked into, and was rich, and often showered his closest friends with gifts, causing everyone to want to be considered a close friend.

"Who is this?" Mokuba finally asked, pulling out a large orange three binder from under his bed. Flipping it open, he flipped to the back of the book, finger poised to thumb through the index.

"This is Rob, man you know me, quit playin.'" The voice called from the speaker phone, Mokuba had switched his dark red cell phone to speaker phone.

"Rob?" Mokuba echoed, frowning, he knew three Robs, and a Robert. Pushing his hair out of his face, he tried to figure out exactly who it was that was calling him.

"Rob, Robert Applewhite, man you straight tripping me and you go way back, remember?" The voice said sounding irritated. Mokuba flipped the notebook to the third page, and looked at the picture of his friend. Rob was dressed in a dark black do rag, with a black cap turned backwards that sharply contrasted his alabaster skin and dark mascara covered eyes, making him look a bit like a raccoon, a large gold chain with a money sign on it was around his neck, and he was wearing a white muscle shirt flashing a gang sign. The last time they had talked had been a month ago, at Rob's birthday party, he had four gold stars under his picture and hadn't scored less than a 3 in all of the categories Mokuba had listed. The boy was a wannabe rapper with no talent, and a troublemaker, but he was also a lot of fun and knew where all the best parties were. Smirking Mokuba remembered why he'd stop talking to him, the last time they had talked to each other, the last time they had been together, Mokuba had been arrested for underage drinking, and his brother had to bail him out.

"Hey Rob, wassup, I remember you now, wasn't we in lockup together?" Mokuba asked. The deep voice on the other end of the line chuckled.

"Yep, man, where you at." Rob asked again.

"At home." Mokuba frowned, "My big brother grounded me." Mokuba said, glaring at the wine red wall of his room.

"That sucks yo, where your brother at?" Rob asked.

"At work." Mokuba smirked, beginning to see where the conversation was going.

"That's tight, that's tight, man when he coming back."

"I don't know." Mokuba said, leaning his back against his bed post, playing with his black sheets.

"What you wearing?" Rob suddenly ask, Mokuba wrinkled his nose.

"Jeans and a beater why?" Mokuba asked looking down at his white muscle shirt and dark blue jeans.

"They ain't all tight, and gay, and shit is they?" Rob asked, "I can't hang with nobody look like Danny Miller."

"Nah man, they like I always wear them." Mokuba said, despite the fact that he was popular, Mokuba refused to wear what people told him he should wear, he started the trends, he didn't follow them. Therefore he didn't wear baggy jeans, like Rob was perpetually in, but he didn't wear tight jeans either, all of his pants were custom made by his own designer and fit him to a T, not to tight, but not baggy either, his stylist had said the pair he was wearing at the moment made his butt look like a fine work of art.

"That's tight, that's tight, man, then throw on yo Tims and get you ass down to the warehouse across from the McDonald's on what's it name." Rob explained, the sound of snapping fingers coming over the telephone. After a long pause, "By Jays house!" Mokuba frowned, Jay lived in one of the poorest, most crime ridden areas in New York, and he wasn't sure if it would be safe for him to go to that area being who he was, without anyone's knowledge. Than again if he told Walter...

"Alright, I'll be there in a half hour." Mokuba said hanging up the phone. Mokuba got up and throwing on a pair of white sneakers and changing out of his jeans and into a custom made light blue jumpsuit and a light blue baseball cap, got ready to leave. Throwing on a pair of over sized aviator sunglasses, he walked out his room, writing a note and taping it to the security door, of course by the time the guards changed shifts and Walter arrived for work, he'd already be at the party. Grabbing the key's to his beat up lower rider that looked like it belonged in the garbage (he didn't take his nice cars to the bad neighborhoods because it was like asking to be jacked or mugged) he sped off.

* * *

Kaiba turned his head as a beat up old car that seemed oddly familiar sped by on the road, narrowing his eyes in concentration.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Tea snapped, he was standing outside her doorway, on her stoop getting lectured about telling his employees who she was so she didn't have to deal with security guards tossing her out, bitchy secretaries who wouldn't let her seem him (aka doing their jobs), and running away from buff, mustached men, in a pink dresses and orange wigs yelling at her to stay away from their baby's daddy. Though he didn't really know what on Earth she was talking about on that last one.

"And to top it all of your secretary kept my money!" Tea fumed.

"_She kept your one dollar bill, call the police._" Kaiba mimicked. Tea eyes narrowed, how dare he! "_Honestly woman, did you really expect to be able to see me without an appointment or prior arrangement, I run one of the largest gaming companies in the entire world, and there are a lot of psychos out there, I mean, I couldn't get a man pregnant even if I were to sleep with one, which I wouldn't do in the first place because I'm not gay._"

"I told you to speak in English, ENGLISH, Kaiba, I know you can."

"_We're Japanese..._" Kaiba said, rolling his eyes, what was her hang up with him speaking it in the first place, it was easier because you didn't have to watch your accent, or monitor yourself from speaking Engrish. (a/n: Japanese English, named for the fact that they are no L's in Japanese and Japanese people have a very hard time pronouncing them, some of them never learning to do it properly)

"So what, I live in America, my career is here, and I don't want to sound like a foreigner, so I need to practice is that okay with you, your majesty." Tea was quite obviously furious.

"_Just get in the car._" Kaiba growled, narrowing his eyes. Tea folded her arms in protest was about to vocally object when Kaiba glared at her looking her straight in the eye with his cold gaze. He stepped up the rest of the way of the steps so he was once again taller than her, leaning in close she could feel the heat coming of his body. Grabbing her arm, he pulled her even closer. "_I said get in the car_!" Kaiba growled low. Tea stared at him, eyes slightly widening, she didn't know why, but him trying to display his dominance over her was strangely turning her on. He was in CEO mode, and there was no room for protest, and it was sexy for some very bizarre, unknown reason. "_NOW!_" Kaiba shouted, and she rushed to do what he told her, there was just something about him, that when get got like that, made it hard to form a sentence and protest against what he was telling you to do. Kaiba smirked as he headed towards his red Ferrari himself, he still had it, not that he ever doubted that in the first place, but Tea definitely wasn't they type to just take orders from a man.

"Wherever your taking me, it better be worth my while." Tea felt compelled to say, even as she buckled her seatbelt obediently. "And I didn't get in because you told me to do, I did it because I wanted to, because I was curious." Tea added lamely. Kaiba just smirked at her, raising a knowing eyebrow, and then sped off. Tea was surprised when they ended up at the airport and even more surprised when they got inside Kaiba's private jet.

"Where are you taking me?" Tea asked confused.

"_You'll know when we get there._" he replied, taking a seat and leaning back against it, propping his legs up on the foot stool right under next to him. Tea frowned, he was whisking her away to who knew where, all of a sudden, and still wouldn't speak English, or do anything she told him, some servant he was. She sighed, and took a seat next to him, where Mokuba usually sat, she had to hand to him, he traveled in style and the seats were incredibly comfortable.

"_Its going to be a few hours so you may as well relax_." Kaiba said peaking one eye open. Tea nodded and propped her own legs up, having to sit incredibly close to Kaiba in order to do so, of course there was another such area right across from him on the other side of the plane, but she didn't care. Kaiba growled a little when she rested his head on his shoulder. But Tea just swatted him on the shoulder.

"You're my headrest rather you like it or not, or did you forget our deal."

"_I never forget anything, if it wasn't for our deal you wouldn't be here, so I'd enjoy it if I were you._" Kaiba said repositioning himself so they were both comfortable. Tea was awakened with a jolt as she landed on the floor of the plane, growling and rubbing her back she saw Kaiba standing up and stretching.

"_We're here._" Kaiba said gruffly as she shot him a glare, rubbing her backside.

"You didn't have to push me you know, I would've gotten up if you told me too?" Tea snapped standing up and stretching herself.

"_But that's no fun_." Kaiba said smirking, "_And that's what I came here to do_." He added.

"You came here to push me." Tea asked dumbly, though she realized exactly how dumb her sleep induced words were only after they came out of her mouth. Kaiba was about to reply when Tea shot him a glare. "Shut up."

"_I didn't say anything._" Kaiba said smirking, Tea frowned she really wanted to wipe that stupid smirk off his face.

"Anyway, where are we? In English please." Tea asked.

"A millionaire's top secret vacation retreat, called El gato gordo perezoso Resort." Kaiba answered.

"No really, where are we?" Tea repeated in disbelief.

"I'm dead serious." Kaiba said, slinging his briefcase over his shoulder. "Don't touch anything, because some of this stuff is even pricey for me." Kaiba commanded whirling around, and glaring her down.

"I won't." Tea said, putting her hands up defensively, though mainly because if Kaiba made her pay for it, then her great grandchildren would probably be paying for it too. "So, El Gato gordo perezoso, that's a funny name." Tea said giggling.

"What does it mean." Kaiba asked, as they headed toward the exit of the plane.

"You mean you don't know?" Tea asked slyly.

"No, that's generally the situation when a person asks you what something means, though I suppose you probably don't hear that question very often." Kaiba replied coolly.

"I know something you don't know, I know something you don't know." Tea said, dancing around him, Kaiba pushed her, and she fell backwards over the seat landing on her rear end with a very unladylike grunt. Kaiba reached inside his trench coat pulling out a PDA from the inside pocket. Quickly downloading some translation software while Tea stood up and rubbed her backside.

"The lazy fat cat, that really isn't all that funny, than again I suppose low grade humor like that never ceases to amaze idiots like you." Kaiba said, Tea growled and stomped over to him, blocking his path.

"You jerk, I don't believe you!" Tea snapped.

"I didn't push you that hard." Kaiba said rolling his eyes, which was the truth, he didn't push her to hurt her and had been just as surprised as she was when she flew over the chair, he had only meant to push her into it, not that he'd admit he'd messed up and didn't mean to hurt her.

Tea smiled sweetly at him, and then kneed him in the stomach causing the wind to be knocked out of him, and to fall down on his hands and knees. "Oh c'mon Kaiba I didn't hit you that hard." Tea said in a mimicking tone. Kaiba stood up and glared at her, refusing to let her see how much it actually hurt.

"Grow up." Kaiba said walking past her and out of the plane.

"Next time I 'll aim lower, whoally cow!" Tea said, gasping as she stepped off the plane that were on a tropical island with a white sand beach, and people running around having fun. There was also a tennis court, and the building itself was huge, looking like a giant glass palace (because of all the windows). The sun was just beginning to make its descent, but it was still bright outside, and all around her was the sound of laughter.

Whoarry cow? Kaiba repeated in his head, Whoarry, Whoally, Whoally cow. He repeated silently to himself, "Gardner, what does whoally cow mean?" Kaiba asked.

Tea turned around, all anger completely gone. "Huh, oh, its something I made up, instead of holy, because to mean cows are holy, I say whoally." Tea shrugged. Kaiba rolled his eyes, so he'd learned a completely useless new phrase, he needed to stop hanging around her, pretty soon he'd understand what Mokuba was talking about whenever he tried to confuse his brother about what he did that day by using slang. Something he didn't want to reduce himself, bad grammar wasn't cool in his book.

"Lets go." Kaiba grunted, Tea followed, taking everything in as they made their way toward the entrance of the building. She looked down at her watch, it was 5:30, the sun would probably be setting in another hour, at least she thought so, how fast was Kaiba's plane, where in the world were they, it was an unsettling feeling. Deciding to take her mind off of it, she watched everyone have a good time on the beach, but quickly found it was a bad idea. Everyone there looked incredibly glamorous, it was like a photo shoot!

"Kaiba I don't even have the clothes necessary for this..." She said, Kaiba snorted.

"That's what the store is for." Kaiba grunted, rolling his eyes.

"I can't afford..." Tea began frowning, was he seriously that delusional! She had left all of her things at home, and unlike him wasn't a multi millionaire.

"Relax, I'm paying for everything, unless you break something than your on your own I will not tolerate the kind of idiotic behavior, or clumsiness that would cause such a thing." Kaiba responded. Tea rolled her eyes, but her mood brightened considerably, with the right clothes and makeup she was sure she'd fit right in, after all, as Mokuba had told her she was naturally beautiful so if you enhanced her beauty artificially, well those blond bimbos would be eating their hearts out. Kaiba walked up to the receptionist, a friendly looking old woman with gray hair and kind brown eyes and a yellow and orange hibiscus print dress on, with a frilly, lacy white collar. A orange chain for her glasses dangled around her neck.

"Kaiba." Kaiba stated, skipping the small talk and getting straight to business, the woman typed slowly, pulling her glasses onto her face and squinting her eyes, trying to find Kaiba's name.

"Ah, here it is. Good evening Mr. Kaiba, and welcome back to El Gato gordo perezoso resort, your usual room has been reserved, unfortunately I deeply regret there are no further vacancies for your lady friend, heres two coupons for a free massage. Please enjoy your stay." The woman said smiling and handing Kaiba two sets of keys and two coupons. "Would you like some complimentary mint chocolates?" She asked, pulling a bowl from behind the desk and setting it onto the counter, the cheery bright aluminum wrappers shining in the light.

"No, what do you mean there are no vacancies?" Kaiba snapped, Tea and him couldn't share his and Mokuba's room, sure there were two beds, but, still, that was Mokuba's bed, she had no right. Mokuba wouldn't just let some hussy lie in his bed, it just wasn't RIGHT!.

/ One Week Ago

"Mokuba you're amazing." Charlene cooed, rubbing circles on Mokuba's chest. Mokuba took a drag from his cigarette.

"I know." Mokuba said, puffing out rings of smoke in mild amusement. Yawning, he put out the cigarette in the ash tray out. "Now go lay over there, Papa's tired." Mokuba said pointing to his brother's bed.

"Can't I just lay here?" Charlene asked.

"Okay, but its your funeral, I'm kind of a wild sleeper." Mokuba said sheepishly shrugging. Charlene sighed, got up and walked over to Kaiba's bed, snuggling in.

"That's a good girl, good night." Mokuba said, falling asleep.

"Night." Charlene replied, falling asleep. She didn't get much sleep however because before she knew it Mokuba was snoring loudly, kicking and punching imaginary foes,as he dreamt he was a ninja, who had to rescue the sexy ninja princess, Taki, from the evil Dr.Dre/

"I'm very sorry sir, but there are no more vacancies." She repeated, then she stopped and paused for a minute. "NO VANCANCY MEAN NO ROOM, No. room for you." She said speaking slowly as is if he didn't understand English. Kaiba growled, as Tea snatched a handful of mints, and glancing at the room number on the key chain dragged him off. That old woman really didn't realize what she had just done, and it took all of her might to drag him off, as he was quite literally growling.

"We understand, thank you." She waved, pulling him away.

"Damn it Gardner, what was that for." Kaiba snapped once they were in their room. Tea was relieved to see their were two extra long twin size beds in the room, separated by a gorgeous mahogany night stand, on top of which a golden lamp with a cat sitting back holding up a torch for the base, and a powder blue lampshade. A white alarm clock sat neatly next to it, dimly displaying the time. The carpet itself was plush and luxurious with different shades of blue interwoven into intricate patterns, with gold on the outside edges of it surrounding everything. There were was a huge mahogany desk, that complimented the complexity of the carpet with its eloquent simplicity nicely. Then there was the balcony that had sheer white curtains with small slivers of real gold woven into them that caught the light from the giant glass doors behind them and made them seem shimmery, as if they had their own light. There was also a large mahogany dresser, and the walls were an unobtrusive cream color. There was a small door that led to what Tea supposed was the bathroom.

"I asked you a question, answer me." Kaiba snapped, Tea looked up at him, and blushed, she'd been caught staring, but the room was just so beautiful and inviting, and she had little doubt that the gold was real.

"I just didn't want an argument to start when the lady can't do anything about the fact that there are no vacancies, and besides that, you really gave no indication you spoke English, and you are foreign, so..." She shrugged, "I just pulled you away from the situation before you both made yourselves look like jackasses."

Kaiba glared at her but said nothing more as he slammed his briefcase down on the desk. "I'm going to the store, you coming or you just going to stand there gaping like an idiot." He sneered, Tea rolled her eyes and sighed but if Kaiba came here all of a sudden it probably meant he was in a bad mood, which meant she couldn't win any argument they got in, sense making sense wouldn't matter to him. It was like they were in high school all over again, and Kaiba was disputing things that were obvious and happening right in front of his face as "**hocus pocus mind tricks**."

"Let's go." She sighed. Locking the room they headed downstairs to a Posh department store stocked with only costly brand names, such as Chanel, Aviator, Dolce and Gabanna, and many more Tea couldn't pronounce.

"Have at it, but be warned you have a 10,000 dollar minimum, I don't have all day." Kaiba snorted, Tea's jaw dropped, 10,000 dollars!!! Her eyes widened when suddenly a thought occurred to her, he was being cheap!

"What, what a rip, I know full well you can afford more than that." Tea snapped. Kaiba rolled his eyes.

"20,000 then, but not a penny more!" Kaiba snapped. Tea arched an eyebrow, and Kaiba rolled his eyes, tell you what, I'll give you 15 minutes, and whatever you can grab in that time period is yours with a 25,000 dollar limit of course." Kaiba sighed.

"Deal." Tea said and they shook on it, looking around she headed to the swimsuits section first,she found a beautiful one piece red bathing suit with a diamond on it, and picked up three, one in her size, and one in Mai and Serenity's they'd have her head if she didn't bring them back something. She also found a skimpy string bikini whose top looked more like yarn with two flowers attached. Smiling evily, she grabbed it, she contemplated giving Mai one too, but if it worked the way she wanted it too, then there was no way she'd want to think about Mai. She picked up a few more things, diamond encrusted jeans, some drop dead gorgeous dress, a sheer flowery sarong (for the string bikini) and a few things for Mai and Serenity, she would've gotten the guys stuff too, but not having seem them in years she didn't know their styles anymore, truthfully she didn't know Serenity's either, she just hoped Serenity still liked dressing like a girl and wasn't a tomboy. She had just turned twenty (hence the reason Tea knew her size) and had been very upset with her that she had missed her big day. (1) She was just about done when she saw the most gorgeous shoes she had ever seen in her life. They were white heels, with an about average heel not too short, not too long, and had a strap that went around the ankle and another around her foot right above her toes, set into those straps were a bunch of white diamonds, and small rubies dotted it above was a gorgeous white gown dress that had no straps and hugged the glass mannequins curves, the mannequin also wearing a ruby necklace on white gold chain, and thin white gold bracelet with tiny ruby studs, the whole ensemble cost 5 million dollars. Tea sighed, she'd never be able to afford the whole thing, but maybe the shoes, nope 1.3 million,the dress, 3 million, the bracelet was 300,000 dollars and the the necklace was 400,000.

"Let's go." Kaiba said looking up at what she had been staring at for the past 5 minutes. Tea sighed and turned around, opening her mouth to speak Kaiba raised a hand to silence her, "Forget about it, just because I have money to waste, doesn't mean I will, I don't spend that much on my own clothes now i it were something practical like a car, or a helicopter, or something serious like a new duel monsters card, or a game, or surgery or something that's different." Kaiba said shrugging. Tea frowned and sighed, what he defined as practical, well she supposed a helicopter was practical for him, but games, well they were serious business for someone who ran a gaming company. Unable to find fault in his logic, as it pertained for him (there was no practical reason for her to own a helicopter or spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on games) she instead pouted, and reluctantly followed him to the check out, trying not to lash out when his clothes came out to 500,000 dollars which was more than the cost of the necklace or the bracelet. Her order actually only came out to a ten grand, which surprised her since there were actual diamonds in some of her outfits. Kaiba picked up one of the tops, and snorted.

"Extra Large, isn't that a little fat for a dancer?" Kaiba asked, putting it back down.

"Its for Mai jackass, I'm only a medium long and the only reason Mai needs that size is because she's top heavy, she's not fat, she's a size four for crying out loud." Tea snapped. "I'm a size three."

"Whatever." Kaiba said storing the information away for later. He was going to use that dress to end his servitude, but only after she was buttered up.

"So what are we going to do first." Tea asked.

"Jacuzzi." Kaiba said, emerging out of the bathroom in his bathing suit and a black plush robe that was tightly knotted, a pair of leather closed toe sandals on his feet. He never wore open to sandals or flip flops, ever, it was, unsanitary in his opinion, and looked weird. Men shouldn't have their feet exposed, even when he practiced martial arts, he had the little protective foot cover, though that served a duel purpose.

"Sounds fun." Tea said going into the bathroom with her swimsuits, operation get that dress, officially underway. Slipping into the string bathing suit, and wrapping the sheer red and yellow sarong around her face that matched the flowers that made her top decent, after all it was quite literally just string with flower pasties attached, she emerged from the bathroom. "What do you think of this one." she asked innocently. It was worth the slight humiliation from feeling like a whore to see the look on Kaiba's face, his eyes dilated so much from surprise that the whole eye look like it strung, pupil,and iris. His eyes were practically popping out of his skull and his mouth hung open.

"Careful Kaiba leave your mouth open like that and flies will fly in." Tea quipped, smiling and arching an eyebrow.

Composing himself Kaiba quickly did a mental check of all things not sexy, 'Winters, Glaciers, no not enough, a frozen wholly mammoth, why the heck does wholly mammoth turn me on? Umm, dead puppies, dead puppies.' Kaba thought.

"Maybe without the sarong?" Tea asked dropping exposing the rest of the string bikini and her long dancer legs that even Hollywood start lets would kill for. JOEY WHEELER NAKED ON A COLD WINTER DAY! Kaiba mentally screamed, suddenly the mental image popped into his head, he fought the urge to gag, and smirked that did it, he was no longer turned on.

"You look like a slut, both ways." Kaiba snapped turning his head away. "Funny Gardner, I thought better of you than that, but than again most rational women lose their minds when I'm around, its the animal magnetism." Kaiba said mock seriously. Tea was about slap him across her face, when she realized by the ramrod straight way he was standing, and the way his fist kept unconsciously clenching and unclenching his fist, that he was nervous, and that, that was his attempt at humor. He had been attracted and didn't want to admit it, he also wasn't looking at her, but past her, to the wall, just left of her eyes. She had to give it to him, he had will of steel, but hers were as hard as diamonds, and she wasn't backing down, shrugging (he was right after all, the thing covered hardly anything and was never intended to be worn in public) she sauntered off into the bathroom, slipping into the one piece bathing suit.

"How's this one." She asked spinning around, in the red bathing suit with a rose colored translucent sarong tied around her waist.

"Pulchritudinous." Kaiba said coolly, he had every intention of continuing to use that word despite its difficulty to pronounce because it ticked her off she didn't know what it meant, and thought it meant she was ugly or putrid, or something along those lines seeing as she had slapped him last time, and he was telling the truth, which meant he was compromising her integrity, it was the perfect insult.

"Thanks, your pretty hot yourself." Tea said winking, Kaiba's eyes arched in surprise again, she knew what it meant? "Don't look so shocked Kaiba, I can spell, and look up words in the dictionary, I'm not stupid." Tea huffed. He was really ticking her off, and all the attraction from the dance was slipping away, and they hadn't even left the hotel room yet!

"Lets just go." Kaiba snapped, he had admitted she was attractive and she knew it, it really ticked him off, because some how her not being stupid made her even more attractive, but her mouth, which seemed to be in check on the the day of the dance, was starting to tick him off. Maybe their really was just something in the air at Pegasus's ball, or in the drinks.

* * *

"See, I told you you could do it." Mokuba said, propping his elbow on top of the pea soup green couch.

"I just knew it was going to be 7." The pretty red headed girl he was talking to said, as she stared at herself compact mirror, her emerald eyes widening in disbelief.

"You know, not every girl could do that, it takes a special type of girl to do that, your special Simone." Mokuba said scooting a little closer to her, he grabbed her hand in his and kissed it. "Its a rare honor to meet someone with the gift, and you have it."

"It is, I am." She said in disbelief, Mokuba smiled disarmingly at her. She smiled back. "Wow, I never knew I was so special! I thought I was just plain old regular Simone. Thanks for teaching me this stuff Mokuba, you know, I feel special when I'm around you, I know you probably have like tons of like other girls and stuff, but I can get your phone number."

"Sure thing, Mademoiselle." Mokuba said, pulling out a small silver business card holder and flipping it open, so that top swiveled and a card popped out automatically.

"Oh my gosh, that is so totally super awesome, your so cool Mokuba! When's a good time to call you?" she said looking at the business card and than holding close to her chest.

"Anytime." Mokuba said with a wink and than he stood up and left. She'd definitely be calling him, he could tell by the way all of her friends jumped up and down and squealed, laughing and dancing in place. Mokuba took a sip of his beer from he red plastic cup, than walked upstairs, where a girl was waiting for him to be able 'to slip upstairs unnoticed' after all he had image to protect, well that's what he told her anyway. Truthfully, she knew full well he was flirting with other girls, and he knew she knew, but he was Mokuba Kaiba, and she was the most popular cheerleader in school, neither of them were going to pass up this chance, and slipping out unnoticed sounded way more romantic. Opening the door to the room, Mokuba smiled.

"Alright, Amber let's do this." Mokuba said downing the rest of his beer, and frowning, she was now officially drunk, apparently having found alcohol to amuse herself while he was gone. He rolled his eyes he'd only been gone five minutes. (Simone Brooks being notoriously easy, hence the reason he'd decided to give her a self-esteem boost instead of saying, 'lets go have a threesome' even if that really all it would've took.) Climbing on top of the bed , Mokuba patted her on top of the cheek.

"Amber, wake up, c'mon let's get you home." Mokuba said pulling her up, he was really ticked she'd cut into his good time, but he couldn't leave her there, or make out with her anyway, that would be wrong.

"Hey sexy, let's do this." She said pulling his black tie, and crushing her lips against his, effectively pulling him on top of her.. Mokuba wanted to gag, she tasted like cheap beer, this definitely wasn't sexy.

"No, your drunk I'm taking you home." Mokuba said, pulling away.

"No, I want to make out! Don't you drink I pretty?" She asked, Mokuba rolled his eyes. Hearing a scream come from downstairs, Mokuba arched an eyebrow.

"C'mon Amber we have to go now." Mokuba said.

"NO!" She shouted, just as the cops came in, Mokuba's eyes widened as he dropped her arm and got off her, this looked bad, and unfortunately for him Amber had chosen that moment to blackout.

"Freeze! Step away from the girl, and put your hands up!" The cop thundered, Mokuba gave a sheepish smile and got up slowly off the bed, wanting something he hadn't wanted in a very long time, to be getting a hug from his big brother and be playing those stupid, kiddish Friday night game nights that he been bailing on the for the past few weeks.

* * *

A/N: I know promised this a while ago, but then midterms hit me, and I had four tests in the course of two weeks, one class my tests are worth 75 of my grade :( but I think I did okay in most of them and one I know I totally sucked at, but the lowest one is dropped so YEAH I still have a Japanese test on Friday...but now that midterms are over I'M back baby. 


	7. Like a Bird

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh

_Japanese_

_**emphasis**_

_flashback_/

* * *

Tea had always suspected that Seto Kaiba was a very demanding person, who had to be in control of everything. But she never really realized until that very moment exactly how bad he was until she witnessed him trying to relax. They were currently enjoying her complimentary massage which would've disgusted her if it hadn't felt so good (since when did multi millionaires need complimentary anything) and Kaiba was making it hard to relax. First he kept making little noises that sounded halfway between a growl and a moan when the masseuse hit just the right spot, until he was practically purring. Which would've been fine, no sexy, really if it wasn't for what he was doing when the masseuse wasn't hitting the right spot.

"To the left, to the left, my left moron." Kaiba growled. "Down some more, I said the fucking left." Turning around Kaiba snatched the woman's hand up and placed it on the small of his back just above his towel. The poor girl stared at his back hatefully for a second tears welling in her baby blue eyes, she couldn't do anything right, it seemed. Looking over at Tea longingly, (she was being a good girl, keeping the painfully awkward noises to a minimum and being quiet letting her masseuse a strapping, sexy young man with mischievous and sexy green eyes and long blond hair do his job), she let out a big sigh and got back to work. Her hand dipping ever so slightly beneath the towel (but well out of danger zones) she heard him growl and snap his head toward her. "Any lower and I'll sue your sorry ass and this establishment for harassment, lets see you try to find a job then. Feh, you'd be begging for scraps from the soup kitchen for the rest of your life, so I'd watch it if I were you." She nodded sheepishly, and he turned back around placing his face in the cushion. She honestly had half a mind to leave a kink in back, as if. She didn't find him attractive at all, he was too tall too pale, his haircut was stupid and while his eyes were admittedly an amazing shade of blue, the icy coldness that seemed to scream "I could murder you, and go to sleep that night in a room full of mirrors and not a lose and ounce of sleep" pretty much killed any attractiveness he would've had. What she wouldn't give to trade places with the woman in the other bed right now.

Tea's masseuse frowned as Kaiba let out another moan, what he wouldn't pay to get his client worked up like that. Tea frowned a little how come her masseuse had stopped working, clearing her throat she felt his hands once again start moving and let out a contented sigh. The day would be perfect if her masseuse was hotter, Kaiba must be in paradise she thought absentmindedly. The girl working on him was actually pretty with pretty blue eyes, long blond hair, an hour glass figure, and perfect straight teeth. She also radiated kindness and intelligence, one of those people you could just tell were awesome and wanted to be friends with, the little nightmare. Her guy though, he was too short, she could tell he was often up to no good, a player just by his cocky pea soup green eyes, his tan looked faked and his haircut was stupid, men should really leave long hair up to girls unless they could really pull it off. Duke Devlin being the only guy she knew who pulled it off perfectly, sure Ryou Bakura pulled it off okay, but it also made him look a little softer than she preferred, she like the bad boys. Pegasus looked gay, and so did Sigfried von whosits. Marik Ishtar! She almost forgot about him, damn he looked good with long hair. Edgy, like Duke. This masseuse though looked like a Fabio wannabe. Truth be told though, Kaiba was incredibly good looking, short hair and all she would kill to be the one massaging him, making him make those, stopping that thought right there, she let out a frustrated groan and the masseuse who had been working on her stopped for a second and looked at her, a cocky smirk on his face. Tea looked over at Kaiba's masseuse, Becky from what it said on the name card, when she caught the girls eyes. They both plastered on fake smiles, thinking lucky bitch, before turning their heads away.

"All done Miss Gardner, now just lie here and relax for a minute, and let me know if you need anything." Her masseuse, Eduardo, said closing the bottle to the oil and setting it to the side. Becky didn't even bother as Kaiba had fallen asleep and was now snoring lightly, though it sounded more like a cat purring. She giggled at the idea of Kaiba being a cat...that she could run over with her car, and set to work on massaging the areas she missed, if she didn't he was going to end up incredibly sore in those areas and would blame her even though **he** didn't let her massage there. He was actually pretty tense and she would've felt sorry for him, if he didn't deserve it. Handing Tea a headset and turning on the T.V. Just in case she wanted to wait for Kaiba until he woke up, she made her exit. Tea relaxed for a few moments, tying the big fluffy white robe tightly together before flipping on the news.

A still publicity shot was on the screen and Tea smiled softly, then hit herself on the head. How could she have forgotten Mokuba he had long hair and was the second sexiest guy on the planet according to F.Y.I. Magazine, second only to his brother. The remote dropped out of her hands though as the caption flashed flickered back onto the screen and the talking heads (a balding old man with greedy, beady little brown eyes, a woman who looked exactly like every other woman some how, completely uninteresting from her dull brown eyes, average brown hair average face and dull black suit, and another guy with a sad attempt to be suave, slicked back and waved hair, and dull brown eyes with a pair of regular, uninteresting glasses, Joe everyman) resumed their conversation.. The caption though it was what still held her captivated, Mokuba Kaiba Arrested, Brother Nowhere to Be Found. Taking a deep breath she calmed down and rolled her eyes. He was probably just out partying and had gotten caught with alcohol, it had happened to Joey and Tristan a couple of times, it had even happened to her once, a blotch on her otherwise squeaky clean record. The caption made it look like he had murdered his brother or something, but really they were just not in the Continental United States, they were on a top secret island in...where the hell are we anyway she thought to herself, frowning. Picking up the headsets she slipped them on, just to be sure.

"...make of this?" The man, William O' Malley asked.

"Well Bill, I think that Mokuba Kaiba is probably telling the truth, he seems like a pretty straightforward honest guy, and to be quite honest he's the kind one of the bunch. The girl was drunk out of her mind, if I recall correctly she had to be taken in to the emergency room for alcohol poisoning, and she is widely acknowledged as the school's...she is acknowledged as being a person with very loose morals, and Mr. Kaiba's story is not only feasible, he's probably telling the truth."

"Oh Please Greta, what world do you live in. Just because this young lady is known for being a slut, doesn't make it true. High schoolers are notoriously cruel and quick to label people and so is the media. Just because Mokuba is labeled as the nice brother, doesn't mean he's incapable of committing a crime. In fact, I've always thought him as the bad one of the Kaiba brothers."

"I think Mr. Jacobs has lost him mind Bill." Greta laughed obnoxiously.

"Now wait here me out, here me out. Seto Kaiba has a notoriously acidic tongue, but all of his closest employees claim they would follow him to hell and back, his bodyguards risked their lives to help him prove his case of corporate sabotage, even though he was no longer their boss and even though they could've easily left him in the middle of nowhere, remember they found him in the middle of nowhere, his plane having to go into an emergency landing, about 50 miles away from anyone no cell phone signal, no anything. If he was really so horrible, they could've made him walk, but they didn't. He also never got into trouble with the law, didn't get caught underage drinking, and didn't screw his way through the phone book, he may have an acidic tongue, but most of what he says is the truth. He's always been honest and has always had a take me or leave me i don't care what you think I'm going to be me attitude, not this smile in your face be friends with everyone but inside think they're as disposable as tissue attitude Mokuba Kaiba seems to have adopted."

"Now wait just a minute, your making Seto Kaiba seem to be a saint just because he hasn't been **caught** doing anything illegal! C'mon on now, the guys a prick, and he's a genius with a thorough understanding of the law and infinite resources at his disposal, so of course he could commit a crime and not get caught. I'm sorry but the idea of Seto Kaiba being a squeaky clean saint and Mokuba being a rapist, is laughable."

"Laugh all you want, but Mokuba is the one with the record..." Tea jaw dropped and the remote fell from her hands on to the ground. Kaiba snorted and woke up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"What time is it?" Kaiba asked yawning, and stretching. Tea's eyes widened, he wasn't holding onto his towel and it was going to slip off any second, face red she quickly changed the channel to the T.V. guide. She didn't want him to see the news article and couldn't look at him.

"A little past 6:00, the sun will be setting soon." Tea said, feeling dumb, but it was what Tristan said whenever he really couldn't think of what else to say. Actually, at least she was telling the truth the show would be starting in a few minutes.

"Want to go watch it?" Kaiba asked suddenly, tying his robe tight, Tea glanced over at him, and arched an eyebrow at him.

"Never pictured you as the sun set watching type." She said point blank.

"I actually never have, never was convenient, but since I plan on going there to clear my head anyway..." Kaiba said shrugging.

"Where?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." Kaiba said smirking and tossing her clothes, "Here get dressed, I won't look." Kaiba said turning around. Tea glanced down at the clothes, all of her old boyfriends and wannabe boyfriends had to be told not to look, either he was a gentleman or she wasn't doing something right. After they got dressed, Tea still in her bathing suit, Kaiba in a white trench coat, black dress pants and a black button up top, which wasn't what he left the hotel room in, he had his own clothes brought but not hers, they walked away from the resort. He bent back a small hole in the fence and they climbed through pushing back some foliage. They arrived in a clearing, on top of a cliff, she looked out over it and discovered the she could see the whole beach from there, the ocean, the sun setting in a dazzling array of warm oranges and reds, and the people packing up and leaving, they looked like tiny ants. The view was breath taking, Kaiba walked a little past her, stopping at the edge of the cliff, closing his eyes, his arms outstretched, the breeze playing with his hair.

"How did you find this place, does anyone else know about it, where are we?" Tea asked, in awe, there were flowers everywhere and it was like something out a story book or an enchanted dream.

"I wouldn't have brought you here if I thought you were going to talk." Kaiba said spinning on his heel, and giving her a glare. Walking next to her, Kaiba plopped down on the grass next to her. "Sit."

Tea sat down but not before punching him in the arm, he had told her to sit like a dog. "So..." She asked. Kaiba exhaled deeply, than shook his head.

"Well, I..." Kaiba paused, shutting his eyes at the memory. Should he really tell her, it wasn't like it was a particularly horrible memory, one of the only times he had felt free. But, he hadn't even told Mokuba about this place, and only had brought her because unlike Mokuba, she wasn't rich, and wouldn't be able to find anything to do if he had simply left her to do his own thing.

/_His feet hit the pavement as he weaved in and out of various strangers, ducking between a particular tall mans legs, he kept running. He had too, if Gozaboro caught him, he'd be in serious trouble. He had been caught sneaking out to have fun with another little boy, instead of doing his work, on an island paradise built to be a vacation from work! Gozaboro had a business meeting with another man who claimed to have a prodigious son, so Gozaboro suggested that the two boys meet. His objective was clear, during dinner the two men were going to grill the boys, and he was supposed to completely decimate the other boy, the loser didn't get dessert, but the winner got any dessert his heart desired. He had won, and ate the ice cream cake greedily (his first taste of ice cream since he had been in that house) and than been locked in his room for the remainder of the trip and forced to study. When the boy asked if he wanted to go to the game room, a whole room full of games, he'd been unable to resist, which had landed him in his current predicament, running from Gozaboro. _

"_Seto, Get back here this instant, don't make me tell you, ack!" Gozaboro collided with the man whose legs he ducked under, and they both fell to the ground. Seto's eyes widened and he made a mad dash for the sauna, he'd made Gozaboro look like an idiot, he was really in for it now. Noticing a small hole in the fence that was unnoticeable unless you were on the ground he crawled through it, and pushed past the foliage, and came across the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life. Walking to the edge of the cliff he saw the people looked like tiny dots. Gozaboro looked for hours but couldn't find him, he could see the whole spa scrambling to find him, his name audible as a soft hum as tons of security guards and people looked all over. He had vanished. When the realization that no one knew about the place dawned on him, and that Gozaboro couldn't leave for at least a few days, until either they found him or it had turned into a big thing, he sighed with relief. With Gozaboro and his butler and tutors here, that meant Mokuba was safe too. For the first time in his life, he was free, if only for a moment. Free! He didn't have to worry about Mokuba, didn't have to study, didn't have to run, he was free like a bird or better yet a blue eyes white dragon! He outstretched his arm, and stood near the edge of the cliff, the breeze flowing through his hair, and up his shirt, it felt like he was actually flying. He roared like a blue eyes white dragon and than giggled at his own idiocy. But why was it stupid? He was ten, other ten years old got to play like that. Realizing free meant he could do what he wanted his closed his eyes again and imagined himself as the Blue Eyes White Dragon, the most powerful creature in all of duel monsters, no one could hurt him, no one could burden him, nothing could stand in his way. He knew he'd have to go back eventually, when Gozaboro did get home it was Mokuba who would pay the price, but for now, none of it mattered./_

"Its not important." Kaiba said, deciding the memory was too personal to share, especially when he remembered the massive beating he'd gotten on the jet ride home as Gozaboro had nothing better to do for two hours than to wail on him.

"I guess not, but still, there's no technology here." Tea said, grinning, a mischievous look on her face. "I never pictured you as the type who could live a second without it." She laughed at the thought of Kaiba having a plug attached to his back. "I bet Mokuba had to drag you here."

"No actually Mokuba doesn't know about this place." Kaiba said, watching the sun set. "I don't tell him everything."

"Really, why not?" Tea said curiously, the why me never being voiced though it was understood.

"I come here when I want to get away from it all. Its just sometimes I feel so, so..." He didn't know how to describe it, he was the CEO of multi billion dollar company (he himself a multi millionaire) who could go anywhere he wanted and do as he pleased. He didn't even have to answer to a board of directors like most CEOs as he was chairman of the board and president as well, he answered to no one a feat even most CEOs had not accomplished.

"Trapped?" Tea filled in the blanks and Kaiba didn't say anything, simply closed his eyes, walked to the edge, and let the breeze take him away.

"I love my brother, I really do, I'd give up my life if I knew he'd be safe. But, I have been forced to raise him since i was five years old, I have never had my own life. Everything I've experienced has all been for him, to the point where his dreams became my dreams."

"What do you mean?" Tea said confused, Mokuba had told her that they his brother had dreamed of building a theme park that underprivileged kids could afford all over the world, Kaiba Land had been the fruition of that dream, then again, now that she thought about it, helping all the poor children in the world didn't exactly sound like something Kaiba would say was his dream, that sounded more like kind, sweet, caring Mokuba.

"The reason it took me so long to build Kaiba Land wasn't because I forgot, if I want something I make it happen right when I want it, I have always been like that. Mokuba is the one who wanted that, and I thought it sounded nice, so I wanted it to. But it was never my dream, but my dream was admittedly kind of dumb, and the likely hood of it happening was about a million to one. I knew that, I am a genius after all. So I got adopted by Gozaboro, after all, I loved playing games, not making them but playing them, we both wanted an amusement park, and how do you get those things, you get yourself a company. How does a pathetic, dirty, little orphan get a company, he uses his pathetic situation to his advantage, and gets adopted by someone rich of course. So I wrote a letter to several different rich company owners I admired, asking them to donate some money to my orphanage. Gozaboro was my favorite at the time, because he was the original king of games, before duel monsters, when chess was king. I suppose I should've told him that I had watched every video ever made, and read all of his chess strategy books, its cheating not to, since a person chess strategy is such an intimate thing, but I didn't, I won, and the rest is history."

"Gozaboro was your hero?" Tea whispered quietly in shock, it just made what he did to the boy worse, well what little she knew. Mokuba had told them all, but she had a feeling he left some things out. And studying his behavior now, her suspicions were heightened, Mokuba had told him that his brother was locked away from the rest of the world and forced to study without break, getting at most 2 hours of sleep. But, there was more to the story than that, a glimpse of that came with the way Gozaboro had treated his own son, locking him away in a computer and leaving him there to rot, though Gozaboro had seemed like an okay parent before Noah died...it seemed as if he had gone insane. She didn't know what happened to his wife, and he planned to put Noah's mind into Kaiba's body. He never really saw him as a human being, more like a tool, like one of his many machines. If that was the case,it would've probably fairly easy to beat him. It would explain so much, especially his vehement distrust of others. After all if you couldn't trust your parents or your heroes or your saviors Gozaboro having saved him from oppressive poverty, coming to every child in the orphanages rescue like a night in shining armor, after all when you were a starving kid with no parents and no toys to distract you from the harsh realities of your life, than you didn't care if it was a publicity stunt, all you cared about was you weren't hungry anymore, yes Gozaboro had been their hero and their savior, and if you couldn't trust that than who could you trust?

Kaiba shrugged, "Even during his little lessons I still called him Father, I wanted to impress him. He gave me 100 million dollars for my birthday, I could do what I wanted with it, even have fun, but I had to give him double that amount back at the end of the year, if I didn't I was going to be shipped back to the orphanage. I tripled it in a day, putting a 100 million into my own bank account and giving him back 200 million dollars in return. He was proud, I was happy. I thought he finally respected me, that I wasn't just an unwanted burden he took his frustrations out on, that I was finally worth something. So I showed him a new video game I had been working on a virtual simulation of a dart game the controller of which had a state of the art targeting system, that he patented as his and put into missiles. To top it off, when I showed him my project he told me games were a waste of his time, and had me dragged out of his office, kicking and screaming, it was the last time I called him father. Though, he ended paying the ultimate price for crossing me." Kaiba said, a sadistic smirk on his face, his eyes flashing dangerously, as he recalled watching Gozaboro falling to his doom.

Tea shivered at the murderous feeling that Kaiba suddenly emitted. "Anyway, whenever I come here I feel free from all of that, Like I can be who I want to be and do what I want to do, I don't have to worry about Mokuba, I don't have to worry about Kaiba Corp, I'm feel like, like a blue eyes white dragon and nothing can weigh me down."

Tea smiled softened, she understood so much what he was talking about it almost hurt, only she felt like that for a living. When she was on stage, and the lights were shined on her, and the music started playing, she was transported to another world, where she didn't have to worry, where nothing could hurt her. She was high above the earth, soaring through the clouds like a bird. She was glad her friends hadn't followed her to New York she loved them dearly, but sometimes she wanted to get away from them too, dancing was hers and hers alone.

"I've never felt closer to you Kaiba." Tea said softly. Kaiba laughed bitterly, startling her.

"You think just because I brought you for a little frolic in the woods, we're close. Well, think again, I'm not the Keebler elf and life isn't a box of cookies, the only reason I brought you here is because your nothing but poor, stupid, trash who couldn't afford to wipe her ass in this place, the only thing you could do was sit in my room and think and seeing how you only have one braincell, I decided to have pity on you and bring you here. Don't make regret my decision by pretending we're close." Kaiba sneered, leering into her face. Tea felt her face turn red with anger and humiliation.

"Who the hell do you think you are! Its not like I asked to be brought here, and where the hell did this come from anyway, one minute where sharing..." Tea stopped, he was pushing away from her, he had shared too much and was scared. "That's what this is all about, isn't it? Kaiba I wouldn't betray you, what you tell me here, stays here."

"I don't need nor want your sympathy." Kaiba snapped turning away, she was intruding on his personal space, true he had invited her but that was a mistake.

"Its not sympathy, to tell you the truth I'm fascinated by you, you've always amazed me. Want to know a secret, I use my friends for inspiration, and your no exception, in fact you're one of my greatest inspirations." Tea admitted playing with the grass. Kaiba arched an eyebrow, nonverbally urging her to go on. "Well you see, I am currently enrolled in Juilliard, I'm working on my masters, but it wasn't always my school. Initially, they rejected me, they said I just wasn't what they were looking for, that I wasn't Juilliard material yet, and that they deeply regretted there wasn't a spot available for me at the school. I was devastated, inconsolable for weeks, it was as if all of my hopes and dreams had went up in smoke. I got an acceptance letter from the New York School of Performing Arts but they weren't the school of my dreams, I didn't even want to go. Then I saw a picture of you holding a press conference about something or other, and I felt like if you could overcome so much, and continue to, then I could too. It took me longer than I would've like but I'm finally here at Juilliard and its in part thanks to you, you who knew no support and very little love but who had accomplished so much." Tea said looking him in the eye. "So go ahead and tell me everything, because it doesn't make you weaker, it makes me stronger."

Kaiba turned his face away from her. "Only the weak rely on others for strength." Kaiba said nonchalantly.

"Well then I guess, you just make me weak." Tea said shrugging.

"Why?" Kaiba said curiously, she confused him so much, it was really pissing him off, it made him sick. His stomach was doing flip flops and he felt heat all over. He was hot and cold both at the same time, and was nervous from some strange reason. Maybe I should see a doctor. Kaiba thought to himself.

Tea shrugged, "Tell you what, you tell me something about you, and I'll tell you something stupid about myself, like, I use to have the hugest crush on the other Yugi, er, I mean Atem. I know its ridiculous, seeing as he 3000 years old, and was inside my best friends body, but I did. Anyway you can use it for blackmail against me later, so I'm no longer in a position to reveal anything."

Kaiba snorted, but than again this was someone who called the uploading process of his virtual display modulator inside his duel disk something from an enchanted dream, just because it was shiny and glittery. Tea swatted him on the arm, when a thought hit here. "You said your dream had been stupid and unrealistic, what was it?"

"I wanted to be an actor, don't you dare laugh." Kaiba said, pointing a finger at her.

"I'm not going to laugh because wanting to be a dancer isn't much better, let me guess you wanted to be one to be rich, right?"

"No, I wanted to be one, because they can just change who they are at a moments notice, they are masters at control of their emotions, and they get to have fun, while, still making loads of money, okay so I suppose I wanted to be a rich person, so sue me."

Tea laughed, she really couldn't see Kaiba as actor. "Actually, I practiced for years, its how I'm able to completely blank out my face and not show a hint of emotion, it comes in handy in the business world."

"You, practiced acting, yeah right." Tea said, stifling a giggle as she pictured him pretending to die dramatically, one hand placed on his forehead. Suddenly Kaiba grabbed her hand, and smiled his face beaming.

"Hi Yugi, can I see your grandfather's card for a moment." Kaiba asked, Tea arched an eyebrow. "Asked me how I knew you had it."

"How did you know I had it?" Tea asked.

"Well I was just hoping you did. Seeing you guys play Duel Monsters made me think about it and I'm so glad you guys are having fun. I would still like to see the card though, its so cool, and your grandfathers speech about the heart of the cards made me love the game even more." Kaiba said closing his eyes and smiling, looking truly happy. Tea's jaw dropped, it was like he really believed in the heart of cards.

"Heh, your pretty good, didn't you really say that once." Tea said, frowning and thinking. So Yugi never told her about the time I tried to steal his grandfather's card, good.

"Does it sound like something I'd say." Kaiba shot back.

"I guess not, do another one."

"Pegasus, I'm looking forward to working with you in the future, this is the start of a beautiful friendship, I'm sure." Kaiba said, sticking out his hand and smiling. Tea wanted to shake on it herself, he was really very good.

"Do a sad one." She said, trying to challenge him.

"I don't do sad, not that it matters, since I figured I'd start out in cheesy martial arts flicks, easiest way for an Asian man to break into Hollywood." Kaiba said coolly. She could tell he had thought a lot about it.

"What too scared." she mocked, a smug smile on her face.

"Is that a challenge." Kaiba shot back.

"You bet it is, unless your chicken." Tea teased. Suddenly Kaiba face morphed, his eyes watery, his face so sad it would make a monster cry. He took her hands into his.

"Jessica, I've wanted to tell you this for so long, and I just wish I had told you sooner. I was never in love with your half sisters aunts mother evil twin, it was you I wanted, but I couldn't tell you because she had me locked away in cave but now that I've faked my death and killed Patricks half zombie fathers cousin, we can finally be together." Kaiba said seriously, "Damn it all If only I weren't a vampire."

"I'm sorry Ben." Tea said remembering the seen from the Bold and the Lovely he was acting out (well too, much better than the real Ben anyway, well the guy who played Ben who actually turned out to be Greg, his nicer but socially inept cousin.) "But I have to do this." She said, picking up a twig from the ground and poking it into his chest like a wooden stake, Kaiba hissed in pain, clutching his chest, a single tear rolled down his cheek and he collapsed into her arms.

"Ben!" She shouted, Kaiba placed a hand on her cheek, gave her a weak, seemingly pain filled smile and his eyes rolled to the back of his head, his head lulling to the side, his eyes fluttering closed. His chest wasn't even moving. Tea clapped he hands and Kaiba looked up at her, he was now in her arms, lying on the ground and staring up into her eyes. Tea stopped clapping, and their eyes locked, Kaiba brought a hand up to her cheek and closed his eyes moving in for a kiss, Tea moved in for the kiss with him her eyes fluttering close her heart beating a mile a minute, when suddenly she heard Beethoven's 9th symphony. Tea glanced around confused, and Kaiba sat up abruptly and pulled his cellphone out of his pocket, effectively ruining the moment.

"Mokuba what?" Kaiba said worry evident in his voice. "When was he out of the house he's supposed to be grounded, where is he now...why didn't you tell me sooner...I don't care if you already bailed him out, this is serious and I demand to be kept informed of his whereabouts...put him on the phone." Kaiba was literally shaking with rage. "What do you mean he won't come to the phone? I"m coimng down there, and if he isn't there when I get back, your fired." Kaiba growled, his voice dangerously low. Kaiba looked down at his cell phone as he flipped it shut, eyes widening. It was 9:00 pm, he looked up at the sky as he felt a rain drop fall on his head, the sky was dark, an endless, ugly, murky dark with very few stars, The moon overhead partially covered by clouds. Great he thought to himself, Just Great.

* * *

Wow, this chapter came in less than a month, go me! Haha, oh and I noticed last chapter I never elaborated on why 20 years is old is such a big deal, its because that's the age Japanese people become adults (the only thing they get at 18 is their driver's license) but they also get the right to drink alcohol a year earlier than Americans. Its even pronounced differently than ever other number since its such a big day, so yeah that was why Serenity was upset that Tea missed it and another reason why Kaiba doesn't view Mokuba as an adult quite yet, since hes technically not in Japan. Mokuba is actually a month away from turning 18, Kaiba and Tea are 23. On a side note Mokuba has told Tea that he's already 18 which she believes since it mathematically makes sense (she is 5 years older than him a lot when she was 16 and he was 11 but less important now that they are so much older) As always read and review, and now that Kaiba and Tea's relationship has progressed a little further and so has Tea and Mokuba' tell me who you think she should be with now. 


	8. Just Desserts

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh

_Japanese_

* * *

A bright red gumball shifted as the steel trap under it opened its gates, causing the red ball of sugary goodness to fall, plunging down the hole, it began to make its descent, a green blur right behind it.. Twisting and turning, as it passed by excited chocolate eyes several times, before landing down at the bottom, resting against the steel trap door that would mark its final resting place. It wasn't long before a green gumball landed next to it, rubbing it against the old gray metal and, pushing the trap door open slightly.

"_Alright, I got doubles!_" Joey exclaimed pumping his fist into the air, and popping the red gumball into his mouth. He tossed the other one to Tristan, who caught it in his mouth, a wide, goofy grin plastered onto his face. Serenity giggled, and blew a big pink bubble with hers. "_Ya sure, you don't want one Yug'?_" Joey asked.

"_I'm fine."_ Yugi said exasperatedly. "_Can we find the hotel now?_" They had stopped at a store in London to pick out Mai something sexy that Joey and her both could enjoy, and some girly girl things for Tea and Mai, as Joey himself had put it. Joey had offered to buy everyone snacks, and these gumballs were the fulfillment of that promise.

"_Hey Serenity, what do you think of this?_" Duke asked, holding up a see through red mini skirt, whose bottom was lined with red fur and feathers. Serenity eyes widened and she blushed.

"_Duke, not in front of my brother!_" She exclaimed. They had been dating for a year now, but hadn't actually seen each other in 4 months, though when Duke found out she was coming to America to visit Mai and Tea, he had been unable to contain himself, and since they had been planning on stopping in Europe to bring back Mai some designer clothes, he had met them halfway. Which made Serenity happy, because she could actually see Mai and Tea, she had secretly bought a ticket to Florida (where Duke had been) but hadn't known how to tell Joey she was jetting off to see her lover. They would be in London for two days and one night, then it was off to New York. Joey turned around to see what Serenity had gotten all worked up about, and he growled angrily.

"_Duke, I'll kill you!_" Joey growled, pounding his fist into his open palm.

"_You'll have to catch me first._" Duke grinned, dashing off towards the exit, and towards the direction of the hotel, Joey hot on his heels.

"_You know what I just realized?_" Tristan said, contemplatively. Yugi looked up at him, raising an eyebrow to urge him to go on. "_When we get to New York this will be the first time we've all been together in four years, and yet its like we were never apart, our bond really was strong, huh?_" Tristan said, staring at his hand, where he still could see his quarter of the smiley face Tea had drawn on his hand all those years ago. It had been corny, and weird at the time (Yugi's grandfather was having a heart attack and she drew a smiley face?) but now he appreciated it. Yugi nodded in agreement.

"_Yeah, everyone has grown so much, but our bond will always be there._" Yugi agreed, and it was the truth. Tristan, once a goofy thug with an insatiable appetite was now a pilot for the Japan Air Self Defense Force (1), his haircut however had not changed, but he was much more muscular. He could probably take Joey now, if he really wanted to. He was also taller, but his style had changed. He was currently wearing a pair of dark blue jeans, and a button down mint colored shirt. Yugi himself had changed features, he was now slightly taller, though he was still slim, and now looked a bit like the pharaoh, though his eyes weren't nearly as dark and stormy, they were still more mature. They were ways the two were different, after all. He wore a pair of black slacks, and a white polo.

"_Joey, let go of my boyfriend_!" Serenity exclaimed, stopping her foot on the ground. Serenity, for her part hadn't changed much, her hair was still cut long, and she still wore tomboyish clothes with a girlish flair, such as the very short yellow cargo shorts she wore, with a yellow tank top, and pink mini jacket. Her shoes were simple white sneakers, with a small pink lining and rhinestones on the side. Joey hadn't changed much either, he was still lanky, still goofy, and still not that bright. He didn't have the best job (he worked in a coffee shop across from a college campus) but he was working to better himself, he went to classes at night, and never missed an opportunity to chat up the occasional professor out for a cup of coffee, nobody actually suspected he didn't go to that school, but a lower end community college a couple of miles away, and that's they way he liked it. Of course he never withheld that information, whenever a curious person who was especially affected by Joey's exuberance and love of life, asked what classes he was taking he'd always tell them exactly what school he went to, Joey Wheeler wasn't ashamed of anything anymore. And it was this quiet confidence, and boyish charm that made him one of the single most popular guys on campus, even if he couldn't actually attend anything on campus. Joey was still dressed much the same as had been all his life jeans, and a simple white T-shirt, with a upside down smiley face.

Duke had changed though, he was now a one woman man, and because of this his sense of style and goals had changed as well, he had put on a little weight, but in no way looked fat. In fact, he was of normal weight and no longer looked anorexic. No longer needing to bed every attractive girl he ran into, he dressed more simply. A pair of black pants and blue T-shirt was his choice of the evening, and the straps, vest, and mascara was gone, though he still couldn't resist the long clown like stripe on his eye, that not only paid homage to his father, who he still loved despite the fact he had to commit him to an insane asylum but attracted very wanted attention as well, or his trademark dice earring, which represented his Dungeon Dice Monsters game, and his trademark ponytail, thought that was really just for fun. Smoothing his hair down instinctively, as he straightened up from Joey's headlock, he smiled. Joey may have won this round, but Serenity hadn't made him take that skirt back, which meant he ultimately won the battle.

"_I can't wait to see Tea again._" Yugi said, as he and Tristan started to catch up with the rest of the group, Tristan nodded and grinned.

"_Hey guys, c'mon_!" Serenity shouted, resting her head on Dukes shoulder, one arm interlocked with his, the other waving in the air.

"_Bakura is waiting for us you know!_" Duke added.

"_Yeah, he might make us actually pay for are hotels if we keep him waiting too long, and then I'll have to take all Mai's stuff back!, You know I can't afford to stay in no hotel, and buy clothes!" _Joey shouted, Serenity shook her head in embarrassment, she couldn't believe her brother had yelled that out loud, as various people turned around to see what was going on.

"_What's wrong sis?_" Joey said confused.

"_Nothing, big brother, nothing_." Serenity said, waving her hand in the air dismissively.

"_Just that your cheap_!" Duke haughtily answered for her, smirking and raising an eyebrow.

"_Want to repeat that!_" Joey said, cracking his knuckles.

"_You know its hard to believe Mr. Maturity over here, is the first one of us getting married._" Tristan laughed as he and Yugi finally caught up.

"_What's that supposed to mean_!" Joey growled, turning his attention away from Duke, and towards Tristan.

"_Yeah, I always thought it would be, well anyone on of us really._" Yugi agreed, causing Tristan, and Duke to fall over themselves laughing, as Yugi and Serenity tried to stifle their giggles behind their hands.

"_It too Serenity? Geez, where's the love at?_" Joey said, hanging his head and slumping his shoulders in defeat.

"_I'm sorry_!" Serenity managed in between laughs, as she patted Joey on the back.

"_Somehow I'm not too convinced._" Joey accused, crossing his arms over his chest and heading towards the exit, in mock anger. He really did want to hurry and make it to Bakura's hotel though, because the sooner they got there and picked up Bakura, the sooner they could leave, and the sooner he would see Mai. Sure it had only been a month, but it felt like ages since he had last held her in his arms.

* * *

Mokuba crawled under his bed,cursing his too long legs, as he took them extremely closely to his body. He was in quite a lot of pain, but it didn't really matter, so long as his brother didn't find him.

"Don't worry man, I know you never touched that bitch, I got your back." Said Rob, holding up Mokuba's bed sheets, as he looked at Mokuba's scared, storm gray eyes.

"Me too." Said Samantha, though he could only see her ankles, and her red stilettos.

"I too shall allow no harm to befall you." Becky said, even though she like to be called Lucretia. Mokuba could only see the bottom of her knee high, high heeled boots.

"Lu, lock the doors." Rob said, taking off his baseball cap and do rag, Mokuba's brother had a big problem with him, and dressing like a thug wasn't the best way to help out his friend right now. He ran a hand through his messed up short blond hair, smoothing it down. Rolling up his baggy jeans around the waist band, and hiding the roll under his big white shirt, he threw his jacket on Mokuba's bed. Lucretia locked the door, and then whirled around and glared at Rob, who had secretly rubbed his mascara off into his blue jacket.

"The name is Lucretia, and it would behoove you to remember that. " She growled, clenching her one gloved hand into a fist, and smacking it into her open palm.

"The name is a hot mess, Becky." Samantha snorted, and turned her head away in disgust. And it was true,and she did look like a mess. She had died black hair, with red and pink stripes. Black lipstick on, and a white tank top with a long sleeve almost transparent pink and green striped shirt on under it. One on of her hands there was a black cutaway glove on, and she had on a mini skirt designed to look like chain mail. One of her legs had a long purple and orange plaid sock on it, the other just had on a fishnet , thigh high sock, which had wholes in it. One of her boots was indigo, the other red However, despite her taste in clothes, she was gorgeous, despite the fact her hair was short, and coming down just below her chin. She also had the most dazzling green eyes of anyone in the school, that held intelligence and warmth. Samantha was much more put together than Lucretia. She had on a black sun dress, with an oversize belt cinched around her waist. A pair of red stilettos on, and a red clutch, that had a long thin strap was slung over her shoulder. Her hair was long and black (naturally black unlike Lucretia, which you could tell came from a bottle) and she had gorgeous brown eyes. (2)

Hearing noise downstairs, the three teens quickly barricaded the door, and pushed against it, pairing themselves for the worst.

"Mokuba Kaiba, get out here this instant!" Kaiba's voice thundered. Letting a small eep, Mokuba pulled the blanket back down that Rob had tilted up, and scooted back as far as he could.

"Kaiba calm down!" Tea's voice called, Mokuba ears perked up, and he narrowed his eyes in confusion, why was she with his brother? Kaiba's pounding on the door, broke his train of thought on the matter however and he shut his tightly. Kaiba grunted, and tried twisting the knob, discovering the door was, indeed locked. Suddenly all the noise stopped, and the three teens locked at each other in confusion.

"Now what is he doing?" Samantha queried.

"I haven't the foggiest." Lucretia whispered back. Suddenly they could hear, something though what exactly that something was confused them. It was coming from the door knob...

Kaiba knelt down one knee, and set to work picking the lock. Tea couldn't believe Kaiba just randomly kept lock picks on him. Pushing the tension wrench into the hole on the key, Kaiba took out a small pick, that looked to Tea like a slightly longer version of what dentists used to scrape your teeth and stuck it into the whole. Finding the pins, he began pushing them up, locking each one in place. Hearing the cylinder turn, Kaiba turned the doorknob much more easily, opening the door part way. (3)

"Oh snap, did he just pick the lock." Rob said, blue eyes widening in fear. Kaiba pushed open the door slightly, but found the door was barricaded. They quickly, pushed against the barricade, effectively shutting the door in Kaiba's face. Kaiba growled.

"That little bastard is starting to tick me off." Kaiba snarled.

"That guy is starting to freak me out." Samantha said, having trouble pushing against the door in her stiletto shoes, getting an idea, she turned around 180 degrees, and pressed her back against the barricaded, steeling her self with her hands against it to, she leaned all of her weight against it. Seeing her idea, Lucretia did the same thing, though Rob felt that his manly muscles were strong enough to hold Kaiba back. Kaiba turned to Roland.

"Take down the door." he ordered.

"Sir?" Roland said, eyes widening. He never seen Kaiba quite that upset with his brother before. Kaiba folded his arms across his chest, and step aside, and Roland realized that Kaiba was serious. Tea stepped in the way.

"Wait Kaiba, you're going about this the wrong way, which is probably why Mokuba barricaded the door. Don't confront him when you're this upset, its late anyway. Just calm down, get some sleep, and discuss it later, or you might say something you'll regret!" She yelled. Kaiba narrowed his eyes, and grabbed Tea by the arm, pulling her close to him, and nodding toward Roland. Roland, backed up and then slammed into the door.

"Shit!" Rob said, holding it tight, but each time Roland slammed into the door, the harder it became to keep the door shut.

"We can't stop him!" Samantha cried out, practically walking in place as her shoes slid across the floor, trying to hold the door shut. Roland backed up further and slammed into the door, causing it bust open and the barricade to come crashing down on all three teens, as Roland fell into the heap, and landed against the door. Kaiba coolly stepped over him into the room, as Tea helped him up.

"I'll no longer be requiring your service Roland, so return to work at once." Kaiba barked as Roland rubbed his back. Roland glared behind his bosses back, and went back to doing his rounds.

"I'm getting to old for this shit..." Roland muttered, walking off. Tea put her hands on her hips.

"Kaiba that was just rude!"

"Who the heck are you three." Kaiba said glaring at the ground. Lucretia, who had the least amount of heavy things fall on her, recovered up, and stood up and ran in front of Kaiba, her arms outstretched.

"The name is Lucretia, and I shall not allow you to pass!" She shouted. Kaiba glared at her, easily pushing her aside and surveying the damage done to the room. Mokuba's leopard lamp was broken, his dresser and most of his clothes was tipped over and spilled onto the floor, there was also a bin with all of his videos games, some of the games had spilled out and was beyond repair. His big screen television was also tipped over, though it looked fixable. "Look at me when I'm talking to you!" She shouted, Kaiba's attention snapped back to the girl.

"Sorry, no can do, you're an eyesore." Kaiba said shrugging, purposely looking every where around the room but her.

"Excuse me?" Lucretia snapped, as Samantha and Rob joined her by her side. Kaiba crossed his arms across his chest and glared at them.

"You look like you were mugged by a bag of skittles." Kaiba said slowly, putting emphasis on each word.

"What did you just say!" Lucretia said, lounging towards Kaiba as Rob held her in place.

"Where is Mokuba?" Kaiba said turning to Samantha.

"I swear he didn't touch that girl, he wouldn't do that, or even need to do that. She probably wanted it if he did touch her, he's got a great way with words. He nailed me, and trust me I'm really, really hard to get. Mokuba was my first!" She said, grabbing Kaiba's hands. Lucretia's eyes widened as she stopped struggling and Rob let her go. She slowly began inching toward Mokuba's baseball bat. "Please don't hurt him...for me." She said, pouting and leaning towards Kaiba so he could look down the top of her dress, if she couldn't use brute force, than she would just have to resort to her weapons of womanhood. "I'll do anything." She said, her hands dropping as she played with the waistline of his pants. Kaiba's eyes widened and he took a step back, Tea took a step forward and growled menacingly.

"He doesn't have time for your games little girl, now tell us where he is, now!" Tea yelled, pulling Samantha backwards by the hair. Mokuba stifled another yelp, even Tea was mad at him? He wished he'd hid in the closet so he could see more than just everyone's shoes. Kaiba arched an eyebrow, that was a complete 180 from what she had said earlier, was she jealous of a high schooler? He snorted and turned to Rob, eyes widening in recognition.

"Your that little Robert Applewhite rat aren't you?" Kaiba growled, grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him towards him so that they were nose to nose. "I'm sick of playing these games now tell me where Mokuba is before I..."

"I challenge you to a duel!" Lucretia shouted, Kaiba turned around the word duel catching his attention, only to see Lucretia glove slap the heck out of Samantha.

"Wha?" Samantha said holding a hand to her cheek.

"An honorable duelist never attacks an unarmed opponent, now pick your weapon Madame, I shall wait." Lucretia said pointing the baseball bat towards Samantha like a sword.

"Your out of your mind! What is this even about" Samantha said backing up. Kaiba turned back around, no longer interested since no one was playing Duel Monsters, and dropped Rob to the floor, he supposed he should break up the fight though, he was the responsible adult in the room.

" You slept with my Mokey bear, now you must suffer the consequences woman, Mokuba is mine, and mine alone, I was his first and he was mine, we are bound together for all of time and I cannot allow your transgression to go unpunished, now draw your weapon, or do you pick fists?

"You slept with my Moku Muffin, you little bitch." Samantha said picking up a small bagless vacuum cleaner. Lucretia lounged towards Samantha, and Kaiba reluctantly dropped Rob and turned around. Rob smiled as the girls began wrestling excitedly.

"Yeah, take her top off!" He shouted. Kaiba pulled Samantha off of Lucretia before she beat her up to bad, and Tea grabbed Lucretia. Even she had had enough of the teens antics.

"Mokuba, Please come on out and face your brother, he's was so worried about you, and you're not being very fair to him, I know you're scared but your brother wouldn't hurt you..." Tea said, looking in the closet. Mokuba crawled from under the bed reluctantly, and stood up to his full height. Kaiba frowned, he didn't even know Mokuba could still fit under the bed.

"Rebeka, Robert and Samantha I need to speak to my brother in private, so kindly get the fuck out of my house, and don't bother ever coming back because you are all banned." Kaiba said, not even looking at him as he faced Mokuba who was nervously staring at his shoes, his brother had never, ever been this mad before at him. He was now pretty scared, usually if he went through this much trouble to keep Kaiba out of his room, Kaiba would leave and eventually cool down, and then Mokuba would talk to him. Seeing Mokuba nod for them to leave, Rob grabbed his jacket off the bed, and the three teens left the room, though Rob still had to keep Samantha and Lucretia from killing each other.

"Seto, I swear I didn't touch her, I just..." Mokuba began after they had shut the door. Kaiba put up a hand to silence him and Tea backed away so she wouldn't be noticed. They had both totally forgotten about her and she was going to capitalize on that, plus she wanted to be able to step in if Kaiba got to angry. How angry could Kaiba get anyway, he had been abused as a child, he couldn't half a healthy temper. But then again in all the years she had known him, she hadn't actually hit anyone.

"No car, no girls, no sports, no games, no television, no after school activities..." Kaiba said, his voice starting out calm and reserved, but cracking as he got angrier with each syllable, "no airplane, no jet, no helicopters, no vacations, no little black book, no fun, no me, no phone, no HOTELS, NO FOOD!" Kaiba thundered.

"No girls? Seto you're being unreasonable, I didn't do anything, I didn't touch her! Okay, I was going to touch her, but then she got really drunk and..." Mokuba began stammering.

"What were you even doing at the party at the first place?" Kaiba said, stepping towards his brother. "As I recall, you were grounded." Kaiba snarled.

Mokuba laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Well you see, the thing about that is..."

"This isn't a laughing matter Mokuba, you almost raped a girl." Kaiba said, crossing his arms his chest. Mokuba's eyes widened.

"Seto you don't actually believe that I did that do you?" Mokuba said worriedly.

"I don't know what to believe." Kaiba answered, turning his head away from Mokuba. "I don't even know you anymore. You've seemed to have lost all love and respect for me. And after everything I've done for you, and the strong family values I've instilled in you, you can still toss me aside, and blow me off to hang out with strangers, after all of that. Then who knows what else you are capable of. You never did take no for answer, I suppose I'm to blame for that."

Mokuba's jaw dropped, and he gaped like a fish for a second. Before anger flashed on his own face. "_What the hell are you talking about, where the heck is this coming from. I've done nothing but be a damn good brother, and I know it_. Your the one who's trippin'! _Name one time, one time I blew you off to hang out with strangers. You say you don't know me anymore but you don't even try! You mock my dream just because its not something professional like being a tight wad corporate shark like you_!"

"Tight wad corporate shark, if you're going to insult me Mokuba, at least come up with something better than that. Then again, criminals aren't exactly known for their intelligence, or they're honesty." Kaiba said shrugging. Mokuba narrowed his eyes, but gasped when Kaiba snatched Mokuba's duel monsters shaped locket off of his neck. He hadn't taken it off without being in the shower, or unlocking something since he was 10. "Well, lets just see what really happened." Kaiba said calmly, opening the locket and removing the picture of himself. He cringed at the picture for a moment, but shrugged and pulled out a tiny wire Mokuba had never noticed. Sticking the wire into his pda, a video of everything Mokuba had done and said that day popped onto the screen. Mokuba clenched his fist angrily. His brother had been spying on him?

"_How long has that camera been there?_"

"Since the last time I had to bail your troublesome ass out of prison, I believe Robert Applewhite was involved in that incident too. Hm, yes he was, and you were at a party then too, drinking under the age."

"_If I was so troublesome why didn't you just get rid of me, or maybe Mom should've just had an abortion, would that have made you happy Seto, huh? If I was never born!_" Mokuba shouted angrily, his fist clenching and tears spilling from his eyes.

"Sometimes I wonder." Kaiba said coolly, not a hint of emotion at all on his passive face, as he watched the video of the party. Mokuba growled, how could his brother say something that awful so calmly, as if he was merely stating a harmless fact, such as the sky was blue.

"_You bastard, when I was in jail I could think about was you, how you would probably be the only to believe me. How I wished I had listened to you, how much I loved you and just wanted you to be safe in your arms, how could you say something like that? How can you sit there so damn calm, and say something like that!_" Mokuba shouted, grabbing Kaiba's jacket and pulling him down to eye level. "_Answer me!_"

"Because I'm not your father, which I believe you, with oh so much respect to my feelings, pointed out to me last night. And to prove your point you went out despite the fact that I had grounded you. And since you have asked me time and time again to stay out of your life, and since you've blown me off for the past month whenever I tried to talk or hang out with you, I'm going to assume your serious. Sorry kid, but either you get all of Seto Kaiba or none, no one is an exception to that rule, not even you." Kaiba said handing Mokuba the pda. "Here this should prove your innocence, don't say I never did anything for you."

"_Seto..._" Mokuba said, calming himself down, knowing full well he would have to be the one to mend things, despite his ordeal. And also knowing that despite his brother paranoia and distrust, and sometimes hurtful words, he still loved him, and Kaiba loved him too, with every fiber of being. He had proved it on more than occasion and had never spoken so with so much detached emotion towards him before, sure he had been mad, but never seething. He was always the kind of mad where he would cuss and throw a hissy fit, tell Mokuba to fix whatever it was that had pissed him off, and then they would be eating ice cream and watching TV together not a whole day later. Which was why Mokuba knew if he let his brother walk out that door, things would never be the same again. He had somehow hurt his brother profoundly, and now that Kaiba discovered that he could be cut so deeply by his brother, he was pushing him away like he did everyone else. He had to choose his next words carefully. Mokuba grabbed his brother's arm, and didn't say anything for awhile. "_Big brother..._"

"I've already given you your independence, I'm out of your life, just like you requested. What more could you possibly want?" Kaiba hissed. "_I've nothing left to give_." Kaiba added quietly, so only Mokuba would hear, suddenly fully aware of Tea's presence as she stood mouth agape, tears in her eyes, biting her fist, now facing him as he had turned to leave. Mokuba tugged on Kaiba's arm, and Kaiba turned his head back towards Mokuba, looking at him over his shoulder.

"_Big brother, I am so sorry if I made you feel that way. It was never, ever my attention. I just wanted to party, and date, and have as many friends as possible, but I never meant to hurt you. I know I've been disrespecting you lately, talking back and sneaking out and breaking your rules, I know you only have my best interests at heart and if anyone has a right to tell me what to do its you, you're the one that raised me, you're the only person I've considered a parent, and your my best friend. I just, in Japan , you're not allowed to date underage, and I guess I just got carried away with the freedom this new school had to offer, but I never meant to hurt you. And if I have to pick between having tons of friends and dates, and you, then I pick you. I suppose I got carried away, but maybe I'll just focus on my studies for awhile, take some business classes you've never asked for anything from me but to stay by your side and help you run the family business. So if that's what you want me to do, then that's what I'll do._" Mokuba said, latching on to his brother's arm. _"Please Seto don't leave, I love you so much, I want you in my life, I'm sorry, please love me again!_"

Kaiba turned towards Mokuba slowly, pulling Mokuba off him, Mokuba sniffed and sobbed shoulders shaking as he looked down at the floor. Kaiba turned his head away from Mokuba, still keeping his hands on both Mokuba's shoulders, keeping him an arms length away. "_You're so stupid._" Kaiba said, before pulling his brother in close to him, wrapping his arms around him tightly. Kaiba rested his chin on Mokuba's head as Mokuba cried into his shirt.

"_I was so scared Seto._" Mokuba mumbled.

"_Well you don't have to worry about it anymore, because I'm here_." Kaiba replied, rubbing circles on Mokuba's back. Mokuba smiled despite the tears, and nothing more needed to be said, as the Kaiba brothers silently made up with each other. Tea smiled in relief and left the room quietly, shutting the door with a soft click. She should've left sooner but she had been so afraid for Mokuba, needlessly apparently. That was the worst fight she had ever seen them get into, and despite all that it never came to blows, they never hit each other and still made up in the end. Kaiba hadn't even gotten the chance to leave the room. Tea paused when suddenly a thought hit her, if they could make up from that big of a fight, then that meant they were both fair game. She blushed deeply at the incredibly selfish thought, and chided herself. Why she was always so selfish with men, she didn't know, she hadn't even wanted the pharaoh to find eternal rest after 3000 years, because it meant they wouldn't be able to date. But it was too late to change that now, and the Kaiba brothers would be fine, she had been worried about breaking their bond, but now she truly understood that nothing could. With the weight of the guilt of dating both of them and the ramifications of those actions being lifted off her shoulders, she left the mansion with a new found vigor, and a lively pep in her step. Operation Seduction was now fully underway, and it was going to be a blast. Her pesky conscious was still screaming at her that the whole thing was sick and wrong, but it wasn't like anybody was going to get hurt, and it wasn't like she'd ever be coming between them. It was wrong like eating dessert before dinner was wrong, nobody was going to die. And after not having a boyfriend for three years thanks to her career taking off, she was definitely in the mood for a little dessert.

* * *

Okay guys and gals, that's the end of that chapter. Lol. I've noticed that for some reason, I get more reviews whenever I ask you guys who Tea should end up with...and someone told me that if you put a poll up at the end, people are more likely to review. So I have a question, are you more likely to review if the author asks a question or will you review for a chapter regardless if you think its exceptionally good or bad? And yes I realize this is a poll about polling but I'm curious to know.

Oh and heres the notes on the story, I actually remembered to put these in there this time, go me!!

The Japan Air Self Defense Force is technically Japan's version for the air force, however unlike an actual air force their not allowed to use it wage war against another country and technically have no standing army, though they have some of the most technologically advanced defense troops/international policemen in the entire world. This is because of WWII.

Anyone recognize her? Samantha is the first girl that has appeared more than once that Mokuba's been with, I've used a different girl every time if you haven't noticed. She probably won't be appearing again, and neither will Lucretia. Samantha might appear again if I change the ending of my story which I probably won't, however Rob may appear again, but again unlikely. Lucretia definitely won't unless she's a character you demand to see again, in which case I'll give her a cameo, doubtful though since the OCs in this story are kept to a minimum and Samantha and Rob are the only ones to appear twice, once a character has served their usefulness to the main characters they are out of there.

"


	9. Raise your hand if

Disclaimer: I dont own Yugioh

_Japanese_

'thoughts'

* * *

Siegfried von Schroeder paced the lobby of Kaiba Corporation impatient, folding and unfolding his arms across his pink clad,chest in a quiet rage. His light, almost white pink suit, and white puffy shirt, his long, candy pink hair screamed of richness and refinement that could only belong to the Schroeder name. 

"Can I get you anything Mr. Schroeder, water perhaps?" Kaiba's secretary asked in a chipper, upbeat voice.

"You can get me Kaiba." Siegfried growled, stopping to glare at her. "I've been waiting for a half hour now."

"Mr. Kaiba is busy right now, but I'm sure he will get to you as soon as he's ready, why don't you have a seat?" She asked, a fake smiling adorning her lips. Siegfried glared but said nothing as he sat down on a plush, leather white couch, directly across from the secretary, and proceeded to cross and uncross his legs. Another five minutes passed, before the secretary finally showed Siegfried into Kaiba's office.

Kaiba looked up from his human resources departments quarterly report, before paper clipping the papers together and signing at the end of the bulky report. Finally he neatly set the papers into the a small black paper tray labeled out, and folding his arms across his chest, gave Siegfried his undivided attention.

"You made me wait for thirty-five minutes to read a report!" Siegfried ground out through clenched teeth. His fist shaking with anger, though it was hard to tell with his puffy, white dress shirt sleeve covering most of his hand.

"That's what happens when you show up to my office uninvited and unannounced, I'm a busy man, you of all people should know that." Kaiba said in that cool, arrogant way that drove so many people up the wall, as he folded his hands together impatiently. Resting his chin or intertwined fingers he looked at Siegfried visibly bored. "Are you going to get to the reason as to why you're in my office, or are just going to stand there looking stupid."

Siegfried glared, but decided to just cut to the chase, he didn't want to spend anymore time around Kaiba then he had to. "Why do you now hold the majority stock of V tech industries? Germany is mine." he bit out.

Kaiba laughed haughtily. "Germany is yours, is that so? Last I checked I owned V tech industries, which was originally owned by the Valkner sister, as I recall there are three Valkners, the sister, who was the weakest of the three owned V-tech, and her brothers owned V-illusions, and V Inc, respectively. As you know, the Valkners are the most powerful family in Germany, and they practically run the place, and now that its in their best interests to keep me happy, I'd say I own Germany. Which, come to think of it, means its in your best interests to keep me happy too, especially seeing how you are my main competition for duel monsters accessories, aren't you?" Kaiba leaned back in his chair, and propping his feet up on his desk, legs crossed, he smirked at Siegfried. "Anything else?" Siegfried didn't respond, and Kaiba laughed haughtily again. "If there is nothing else, then get you and you're bad hair out of my office."

"Actually there is something else, herr Kaiba." Siegfried growled. Kaiba raised an eyebrow as Siegfried sauntered over to Kaiba, placing his hands on either side of Kaiba, pinning him in his chair before he had a chance to move. He leaned in close to Kaiba, so close that Kaiba could feel his breath against his neck. "If you don't get out of Germany, I will destroy you, even if it destroys me, because I am sick of you, and everything you stand for. The world would certainly be a better place without you." He whispered in Kaiba's ear. He pulled back away slightly, adjusting Kaiba's tie, and rudely pretending to wipe dirt off his shoulder, Kaiba glared down at Siegfried as he pulled the handkerchief out of Kaiba's right breast pocket.

"Don't you think this is a little sophisticated for a street urchin like you?" He asked, fingering the the napkin, once again standing to his full height. Kaiba fought the urge the to stand up and punch him, but that would only prove Siegfried's point, and give him the bad publicity. Siegfried tossed the silk, navy blue handkerchief on the ground, symbolically crushing it with his feet, before clapping his hands in mock approval of Kaiba's white business suit, with navy blue tie, and slightly lighter blue button down work shirt. "There now, much better, don't you look handsome?" Siegfried said mock sweet and patronizing as he gently patted Kaiba's cheek as if he were a naughty five year old. He plastered on a fake smile and began to saunter out of Kaiba's office. He paused, flicking his long pink hair behind him, as he turned back towards Kaiba, in fake cheer. "Oh and do remember our little chat, hmm, I'd so hate for anything bad to happen to you, or that cute little brother of yours." And with that he slammed the door as Kaiba rose to his full height slamming his hands on his desk. Kaiba sat back down, willing Siegfried to drop dead right there of a heart attack. However, it only took one phone call to make him go away, no he'd promised Mokuba he wouldn't have anyone quote unquote erased anymore.

"Fa..." Kaiba muttered.

"The next word out of you mouth better not be the other f bomb." Mokuba said, causing Kaiba to jump out of his seat in shock. He clutched his chest and took a deep breath as Mokuba let out a small chuckle.

"_Don't sneak up on me like that_." Kaiba said glaring at Mokuba.

"_I didn't sneak up on you, and what happened to warriors instinct, hm? All that martial arts training for no reason._" Mokuba laughed, playfully wagging his fingers. Kaiba threw a stapler at Mokuba, who easily dodged, cracking up some more. Kaiba sat back down at his desk before arching an eyebrow and looking up at Mokuba.

"_Mind telling me why you aren't in school?_" Kaiba questioned.

"_I ditched after first period, everyone was treating me really messed up, the moved their desks away when I sat down and stared at me like I was a freak. The teacher even let them throw paper and launch spitballs at me, so I bailed. I think everyone thinks that the video proving my innocence was fake, and that I just used my celebrity to get out of trouble, they think I actually tried to force myself on she who will not be named. Fu..._freakingdrunk" Mokuba answered, running a hand through his hair. "_Stephanie even said that she heard that I had raped somebody, and she just wasn't looking for that right now, whatever the heck that means._"

Kaiba gave Mokuba a sympathetic smile before turning back to his work. "_There are a few papers that need your signature in your office, why don't you do some work in there?_"

Mokuba nodded and walked into his office, whistling before he stopped, and turned back around peeking his head through Kaiba's door, where Kaiba had was walking back to his desk after picking up his stapler.

"_Hey Seto, who were you calling gay?_" Mokuba asked.

"_Schroeder_." Kaiba replied. Mokuba snickered a devious grin on his face, Kaiba blinked and arched an eyebrow. "_What, why are you looking at me like that?_"

"_I think he likes you_." Mokuba said falling to floor he was laughing so hard. Kaiba threw the stapler at him, and Mokuba closed the door, causing the stapler to hit the large, black oak door and break. Mokuba opened it again and stuck out his tongue, this time peeking in again. "_He wants to_ jump your bones." Mokuba giggled. Kaiba leaped after him and Mokuba shut the door again, causing Kaiba to hit the door again with an ungraceful thud. Mokuba took of running, but Kaiba pulled of his white dress shoe and threw it at Mokuba, causing him to tumble over and fall flat on his face in surprise.

"_That'll teach him_." Kaiba muttered. Mokuba came innocently back toward his brother hands raised in a sign of defeat.

"_Sorry Seto, didn't realize you were so __**sensitive**__, or is it because he's your secret lover._" Mokuba said, cracking up. Kaiba glared at Mokuba, and tried to snatch him up, but Mokuba knew better and jumped backwards. "_You're protesting a little too much, either you really hate him or its true, you haven't tried to put a hit out on him yet, so that must mean, you have a boyfriend._" Mokuba laughed.

"_Mokuba, I'm warning you..._" Kaiba grit out. Mokuba just smirked.

"Raise your hand if your brothers a homo." Mokuba sang out loudly enough for everyone around them to here as he stuck his arm in the air and waved as if someone was asking who wanted a million dollars.

"_You're dead._" Kaiba said, tackling Mokuba to the ground, and punching him on the arm. "_Get back to work._" Kaiba said, slapping his brother on the back of the head. "_And don't laugh at people who are gay, theres nothing wrong with it._"

"_This coming from someone who will use the other f word? Besides some of my friends are gay, gay for you in fact, want their number?_" Mokuba laughed. Kaiba took off his other shoe, and threw it at Mokuba.

"_You're the reason everyone thinks that about me you know that._" Kaiba said jabbing a finger at Mokuba. Mokuba just shrugged.

"_Maybe if you got yourself a girlfriend or two, people wouldn't think that._" An undignified humph and a another slap to the back of the head was all Mokuba got as a reply.

* * *

Tea tied a fluffy, pink robe firmly around her waist as she lazily stepped out of the shower. Picking up her script off the night stand and slipping her feet into a pair of pink bunny slippers, she sluggishly made her way to the kitchen, and poured herself a cup of coffee in a cheery, bright yellow coffee mug. Yawning, she flipped the TV to a daytime entertainment news show, and plopped down on her couch, tucking her legs up under her body. Blowing on the coffee and taking a small sip, her eye perused her script. She had her staging and dance moves down pat, but she still seemed to mess up on the last of her lines, and with show time coming soon, there was no time to memorize. 'Not that it really matters right now, I'm only in one showing, and its not for another week in the half, besides its five lines' Tea thought, frowning, before setting her script down. She just didn't feel like working on it right now, that was the nice part about being an understudy, it wasn't as much as pressure. She turned her attention back to the screen and picking up the remote control from a small stand near the couch, she turned up the volume. 

"Looks like yet another DUI for Chinese actress, duelists, martial artist, and international superstar Vivian Wong. Her pink Ferrari was pulled over early yesterday morning in the wee hours of the night on Beverly Hills Sunrise Boulevard when concerned motorists claimed they saw her car driving erratically following the opening of her new restaurant Wong's Bistro. Now local area police did respond to the call, and the starlet was arrested. However authorities tell us that she has pleaded not guilty, and is currently out on 1000 dollars bond. No word yet on a court date." The co-hostess said, her chirpy, overly perky voice clearly straining as she tried to be dramatic. Though it was incredibly hard to take her seriously when she was dressed in a pair of short shorts and a V-neck T-shirt that made her chest look like it was trying to run away from her body, practically spilling all of the way out of her shirt. Tea stuck her finger in her mouth and pretended to gag, though if it was because the girl mentioned the name Vivian Wong or because of how she was dressed she wasn't sure.

"And we do have some late breaking news..." She said pouting prettily, and clenching her hands together, while pushing her chest up with her arms. "And this is truly a tragedy, isn't that right Chuck."

"Not for me, Trixie." Her co-host laughed winking and smiling. He was dressed in a button down fire engine red shirt, with the top 4 buttons undone, and tight leather pants. His blond hair had frost tips on it, and was spiked up. "In fact its like music to my ears, that's because international sex symbol, and three time world duel monsters champion Seto Kaiba is officially out of the closet ladies and gentlemen. Outted by his own brother Mokuba Kaiba just moments ago just outside their office at Kaiba Corporation." Tea spat out the coffee she had been sipping and turned up the volume on the screen. There was no way Kaiba could be gay, could he? Mokuba wasn't liar, nor could he possibly know about her and his brother, there was just no way...maybe he was bi-sexual?

"Apparently he's in a relationship with Germany's own sexpot Siegfried von Schroeder, this footage obtained from an anonymous employee, clearly shows Schroeder getting up close and personal with Mr. Kaiba in his office." Chuck went on to say, as footage of Siegfried leaned over Kaiba, dangerously close and playing with his tie flashed onto the screen. "Now Siegfried did leave when Mokuba arrived but not long after Mokuba Kaiba was seen in the hallway shouting for his fellow co-workers to raise their hands if their brothers were homosexuals, at which point he raised his hand tall and proud."

Tea rolled her eyes and turned off the television set, smirking. They had it so wrong it was ridiculous. Mokuba was probably just being a moronic, hormonal jock, and Kaiba was probably only protesting so much because it was Siegfried, those kinds of rumors had been circulating around him for years. Just then a knock sounded at her door, grumbling under her breath she sat her coffee mug down on the small table next to the couch and stood up.

"Just a minute..." Tea called, tying her robe around herself more firmly and smoothing down her hair. The knock only got louder and Tea glared angrily at the door and stomped over to it...who could possibly be knocking at her door? Everyone she knew was at work, or in Mokuba's case, school then again he struck as the type that cut classes, frequently. She laughed silently to herself, that's how she lost her position as class representative. The knock at the door got even louder and more insistent. "I said just a minute." Tea shouted swinging open the door, when she came face to face with her visitor, however all words died on her lips as she let out a loud scream.

* * *

Mokuba leaned back in his chair so that the front two legs of the lavish, black office chair came off the ground, his white sneakers propped up on his mahogany desk, and his ankles crossed. Blowing a strand out of his face, he drummed his fingers irritably whilst reading a report from Kaiba Corps' financial department. Why he had to change into his work clothes (a navy blue suit) anyway was beyond him, shaking his head he took off his blue and white striped tie, and stuffed it in a drawer in his desk. He unbuttoned the top three buttons of his silk, translucent, white collar shirt, and standing up, he looked himself up and down in his hidden floor length mirror. He pulled his hair out its neat, perfect ponytail and shook his head, letting his long, silky raven hair go wild, but not to wild, ladies liked beach like tousled hair, not a sloppy mess. Grinning in the mirror, he winked at himself. 

"Much better, besides Seto needs to learn a little word called compromise." Mokuba said to no one in particular. A knock came at the door and Mokuba sighed, his appointment was here. Hiding the mirror again and opening the door he ushered yet another potential client into the room.

"Good Morning Mr. Chesterton, nice to make your acquaintance." Mokuba said, bowing respectively. Mr. Chesterton was supposedly a potentially important client (hence Kaiba's demand that Mokuba change into his work clothes) but didn't look it at all. While most of the men that came into the office were fat, balding and graying, at the same time they nevertheless were neat and maintained an aura of sophistication and power. Mr. Chesterton on the other hand was sloppy looking (his shirt was only half tucked in, his tie crooked and his comb over sticking up all over the place) and gave off an aura that was decidedly scatterbrained and meek.

"Oh, um, nice to meet you to sir." Mr. Chesterton said bowing, and then snapping up too quickly accidentally getting a crick in his neck. He winced in pain then rubbed the back of his neck.

"Come sit down, nice weather we're having, can I get you anything..." Mokuba said rambling off his list of pleasantries quickly and nonchalantly, and making his way to his seat.

"No thank you." Mr. Chesterton said, shaking his head, rocking back and forth on his heels.

"Well then, shall we start?" Mokuba asked, motioning for him to sit down, when he noticed that older man hadn't taken the hint and sat down with him.

"Uh, shouldn't we wait?" He asked surprised.

"For?" Mokuba said confused, re propping his feet up on the desk and leaning back on the chair again, he folded his hands on the back of his head.

"For the vice president, Mokuba Kaiba, I was told I'd be meeting with him..." He said, looking down at the sticky note he'd made to remind himself of names and important information regarding the sell of his company, it had failed miserably (who knew no one wanted to buy edible toilet paper?) but the factory was on an important piece of land and had several pricey machines that could be converted for millions less than buying new ones to make cogs for Kaiba Corporation's duel disks, and therefore he stood to make a killing.

"Yo." Mokuba said whistling and pointing to himself after snapping his fingers.

"Are you trying to say that your Mokuba Kaiba?" He asked. Mokuba shook his head in bemusement, it was always funny when someone didn't know who he was.

"The one and only."

"But you don't look a day over 16..."

"Actually I'm 17, legal in three and a half weeks, which means college girls, and not having to worry about being pulled over for driving under the age, you know what I'm saying, sayin? Up top!" Mokuba said reaching his hand up in the air for a high five. The man gave a withering look at Mokuba, looking at the gold name plate on the exquisite black mahogany desk, the letters on which were eloquently carved in neat, perfect cursive. Surveying the room he noticed two black, leather chair with a gold base sitting on the floor in front of Mokuba Kaiba's desk, on the desk was a small bonsai tree. Pictures of Japanese art hung on the walls, and perfectly attended to trees sat on all four corners. There was a large black entertainment center/filing cabinet on the opposite side of the wall, where a flat screen TV with a screen saver of a beautiful girl sitting under a cherry blossom tree, her long ebony black hair blowing in the wind as pink leaves danced around her was on the screen. It was incredibly lifelike, almost as if you could touch her. The TV itself was hung on the wall inside the small square intended for the TV, where it was framed in a gold frame, with leaves and olive vines beautifully handcrafted into the frame. The carpet was plush and a deep crimson color, and the wall sized screen directly behind Mokuba, gave the impression that you were hovering above a beautifully lit up city, the warm hues of the sun setting in the sky bathing the city in beautiful colors the lights of the buildings adding to the amazement of it all. This office was the most beautiful office he'd ever seen in his life it was modern, artistic and refined, and nothing was out of place. Well accept for the young nuisance standing in front of him pretending to be Mokuba Kaiba, and there was no way that an office this amazing belonged to someone like him.

"Look if it helps I'll hand you my business card." Mokuba said rolling his eyes, he suddenly felt uncomfortable as if the old man was appraising him or something. Reaching into his jacket he pulled out a business card and pinching it delicately on either corner, he bowed politely.

"Thanks." Mr. Chesterton said, spitting his gum out into it, and balling it up and throwing it away in the black wastepaper basket outside the hallway. Mokuba flushed with anger, at least if he was going to do business with a Japanese company he could've learned the number one rule, treat all the business cards handed to you with the utmost respect! He just spat gum on his name, and if you spit on someone's name, it was like spitting on them.

"Look here you greasy, old...fart, I don't know who you think you are, but you just lost yourself 20 million dollars!"

"Look kid, you're not fooling anyone so give up the act."

"I am Mokuba Kaiba! What just because I'm not a shriveled up carcass like you, that automatically means I can't be successful? Me and my brother didn't claw our way up to the top to have some cocky butterball like you belittle us. "

"My brother and I." He corrected, Mokuba let out a snarl and was about to punch the man in the face, when he blew out a breath and calmed himself down.

"Look I'm having a bad day, so don't make me take it out on you, lets just get on with the stupid meeting, and I'll try to forget our little discrepancy." Mokuba ground out.

"Misplaced aggression is not a sign of true leadership, and that a person like you, maintains, and decorates a room like this is preposterous." Chesterton replied coolly. Mokuba's eye twitched, his fist shaking with rage. "Furthermore..." Chesterton replied, when Mokuba spun around and punched the guy in the face, then grabbing a red marker out of his jacket, he wrote the word rejected on the guys forehead. Mokuba stood up to his full height over the guy, and smirked.

"I'm sorry sir, but we regret to inform you that Kaiba Corporation has decided not to approve the buyout of your company at this time, please send all inquires to our complaint department between the hours of 9am and 5pm, Monday through Friday." Mokuba recited the rejection letter sent out word for word. "Sincerely Seto Kaiba, Founder, Chairman, President and CEO, and Mokuba Kaiba Vice President and CFO, and in case you're wondering that last one is me, bitch!" Mokuba shouted, about to hit the guy again when his fist was suddenly stopped.

"What's the problem here." Kaiba said, walking in after seeing a herd of employees peeping through the door at Mokuba, and this time they weren't all women, nor just Robert from Human Resources.

"Why don't you ask him?" Mokuba pointed an accusing finger as Chesterton stood up, finally smoothing down his hair as if Mokuba had messed it up. Mokuba made a move like he was going to punch him, and Chesterton squeaked and flinched, shrinking backwards. Mokuba smirked.

"The problem is I'm being made a fool of by your Vice President's personal assistant, whilst your vice president is off gallivanting with who knows who." He shouted. "Furthermore, this delinquent..."

"What do you mean delinquent, why you no good son of a..." Mokuba shouted making a move for him, Kaiba raised an hand and Mokuba stopped.

"Mokuba that's enough." Kaiba ordered.

"No Seto its not enough, this butt munch here ..."

"I'm sorry did you just say Mokuba?" Chesterton suddenly interrupted. Kaiba spun around on his heels.

"Yes I did, you see Mr. Chesterton, this is my brother and he just also happens to be the Vice President of this company, now you have five seconds to get out of my building before I personally escort you out." Kaiba threatened.

"You must be joking, how was I supposed to know..."

"Its called research, and your already down to 2."

"But..." Chesterton stammered. Kaiba took a step forward and Chesterton began making his exit."Fine but you'll be hearing from my lawyer..."

"Yeah, well don't let the door hit you on the way out, and you better not let me see your butt again, because I don't play around, I'm from the streets!" Mokuba shouted, kicking the poor guy on his rear end after he left. Chesterton ran out the door.

"I did all your fighting for you." Kaiba said incredulously, turning towards Mokuba.

"Yeah I know, but if you say that you are from the streets, everyone assumes that because you were poor you learned how to fight...you see I don't fight with this..." he said holding up his hands, "I fight with this." Mokuba said pointing to his brain.

"Oh please, if you were using that good head on your shoulders you wouldn't have taken off your work clothes, where is your tie, hm? Why is your shirt unbuttoned?" Kaiba said, grabbing Mokuba shirt and buttoning it back for him. Mokuba rolled his eyes and grabbed his tie out of his drawer, putting it back on.

"How is anyone supposed to have any respect for you when you're dressed like that, and pull your hair back, or a least groom it." Mokuba frowned and pulling a rubber band off the rubber band ball on his desk tied it back up.

"Happy?" Mokuba gritted out

"Look I know its a pain in the butt, but I'm dressed in a suit too, you know." Kaiba said motioning towards his outfit. Mokuba snorted and Kaiba rolled his eyes.

"Look I'm going home early, so you man the fort down here, I'd have Roland do it but he called in sick, it shouldn't be too much trouble its a slow day, theres some reports on my desk that need to be reviewed and sent over to research and development and theres some paperwork that needs to signed, I've already submitted some adjustments to the blueprints, but if the automatic launch sequence for the new K vision game system still needs some work just have them send it up to me tomorrow. Oh and there's a meeting with the Tysons at 3:00, the Powers at 4:00 and you may be able to squeeze in Industrial Illusions at 4:30 if not then call and reschedule,and don't worry about calling in at the last minute, Its not like Pegasus will mind, if he doesn't want me to sell all of my stock from V tech at once and buyout his company that his." Kaiba said slyly. "Oh and one more thing, I need you to pull an overnighter with Briggs and re-alphabetize my files, I'd do it myself, but like I said I need to head home early. Okay thanks." Kaiba said trying to duck out quickly.

"Why?" Mokuba said confused. Kaiba got caught off guard and coughed and cleared his throat to buy time.

"I just, haven't slept in about four days and my head is killing me." Kaiba replied, his voice low. It was an outright lie, but he wanted to spend some time with Tea now that the whole Mokuba being arrested fiasco was over, and since Mokuba wasn't in class anyway, and wouldn't be out anywhere for awhile (he may not have hurt anybody, but he did drink under the age, again.) it was the perfect opportunity.

"All right Seto."

"Did you get all that?" Kaiba asked.

"Yep, sleep well."

"Thanks. See you probably tomorrow then. Come home safely, bye." Kaiba said, walking off to his office, grabbing his coat and passing by Mokuba's office again, heading down the elevator and out the building. Mokuba waited for a few minutes, for his brother to be totally gone. Once he was sure that Kaiba was gone, he paged Walter, his own right hand man.

"I need you to do this stuff for me." Mokuba said tossing a tape recording he had secretly started as soon as heard his brother was leaving the office. "I'm going home, deuces." He said holding up the peace sign and leaving, taking off his tie, letting his hair loose and unbuttoning the top three buttons of shirt. He decided to see what Tea was doing, he hadn't talked to her in a while.

* * *

Sorry about the long wait, but I didn't really have Internet access so I couldn't post anything until, I got back on campus. But I'm back and regular updates should resume :) Expect a new chapter sooner than a month however, because I got about a 1/4 of the next chapter already written, I'm pretty busy with work right now (I got a new, better job YAY!) but I'll try to get it up soon. 


	10. Finding Out

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh

_Japanese_

* * *

Tea screamed as she opened the door and was greeted with the sight of Tristan Taylor. Jumping up on him and wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, she squealed again in happiness. 

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Ihaven'tseenyouinforever!" She exclaimed.

"_Huh?_" Tristan blinked confused. "_Good to see you too Tea, but you're going to have to speak slower, Not all of us have had the luxury of living in America, you know._" Tristan said through gritted teeth, as he struggled to breathe. Tea blushed and let go of him, allowing Tristan to get a breath of fresh air. Tristan smirked. "_Looks like your body at least has improved, what size jeans are you now, size 2?_" Tea raised an eyebrow in confusion, then looking down at herself she realized she still wasn't dressed, and that her robe had come loose. Growling, she punched Tristan causing him to stumble backwards down the stairs, giving her a better look behind him.

"_Only five seconds and you already managed to piss off Tea? That's a new record!_" Joey laughed, as he helped Tristan off the ground. "_Hey Tea, is Mai around?_" Joey asked, turning towards her. Tea shook her head.

"No she just left for work, what are you doing here anyway? I thought Mai was leaving this weekend to go to Japan to see you." Tea inquired. Joey grinned.

"_I couldn't wait that long, a man has needs you know._" Joey said, winking an eye. When he was suddenly smacked down to the ground from behind by Duke.

"_I think that's too much information Joey._" Duke said turning towards Tea. She nodded her head, and Duke smacked Joey again. Tea looked behind them, and squealed and ran towards Yugi, taking them both to the ground. She was used to seeing Duke and Joey because Joey came once every other month or so to be with Mai, and he brought Duke with him, so he wouldn't try to quote unquote defile his sister. But Tristan and Yugi she hadn't seen in person for 3 years.

"_Nice to see you too!_" Yugi choked out, blushing and relaxing her grip on him, she stepped back.

"_Now if only Bakura and Serenity were here.._." She wondered out loud.

"_They are, they're just in Rebecca's car, she's the one that arranged the surprise_." Yugi said, Tea squealed in delight,when suddenly a car came whizzing into the driveway, almost killing Yugi and Tea as they leaped out of the way.

"_I'm guessing that's Rebecca_?" Yugi asked, it was certainly the same make and model of the car that Bakura and Serenity had rode in.

"_Yep, I'd recognize that bad driving anywhere, she always did hate New York traffic..._" Tea breathed out, clutching her heart exasperatedly. The passenger doors opened up and Bakura and Serenity fell out, kissing the ground repeatedly.

"We made it!" Bakura gasped.

"You say that as though we could of just as easily not!" Rebecca yelled, pulling off her sunshades, and stepping out of the car. Bakura and Serenity just gave each weary looks as a response. Wobbling up to Tea they smiled.

"_Hi, where's your bathroom_?" They asked in unison.

"_One in the basement, and One on the second floor, second door on the left._" Tea said, they both gave her a small hug, then ran to the bathroom, they had been about five seconds away from wetting themselves.

"Well come on in guys, just make yourselves at home while I go change." Tea said, running up the stairs as if someone had just lit a fire under her.

"_She sure is speaking a lot of English..._" Yugi noted. Joey nodded, rubbing his chin.

"_I think Mai had a bad influence on her._"

"And just what is so bad about speaking English?" Rebecca demanded, stomping her foot on the ground.

"_Nothing, nothing, at all, its just not everyone here has had the luxury of speaking English everyday." _Yugi reassured waving his arms in the air frantically.

"_You forget pretty much everything after high school_!" Joey added.

"_You mean you forgot everything after high school, don't lump me in with you guys._" Duke said, jabbing Joey with his finger.

"_Well you do do business here all the time..._" Yugi began, when he was cut off from another knock on the door.

"_Mai must be home early!" _Joey exclaimed

"_Joey its not necessarily..." _Yugi warned, but Joey flung open the door, grabbed the person standing in the doorway anyway and kissed them without once glancing to see who it was.

"_What the hell, Wheeler get off of me!_" Kaiba screamed, pushing Joey away and wiping his lips. Joey turned beet red with wide eyes,as he backed away.

"_You'rev not Mai!_"

"_And you're an idiot!_" Kaiba spat, spitting on the ground.

"Joey what are you doing here!" Mai said, pushing Kaiba aside and grabbing Joey, leaning him back into a kiss before he could reply. Kaiba shook his head disgustedly, then looked at everyone that had showed up.

"_Why are you losers even here, you should be on another continent right now!_" Kaiba shouted, this was incredibly bad timing, how was he supposed to confess his feelings with all of these people here?

"_I should ask you the same question_!" Joey yelled grabbing Kaiba by his shirt collar.

"_Get your filthy paws off me, mutt!_" Kaiba growled.

"_Seven years, two continents later, and those two still can't get along_!" Yugi said hanging his head. Everyone else shook their heads, as Serenity came down the stairs and Bakura came up them.

"_What I miss_?" Serenity asked.

"_Your brother kissed Kaiba._" Tristan laughed. Serenity's eyes rolled to the back of her head as she almost fainted. Duke caught her and fanned her.

"_Nice going_!" Duke hissed. Tea came down the stairs dressed in a pair of jeans and an old, white T-shirt.

"Hey what's all the commotion about, I leave for five minutes and..." Tea paused as she looked down at Kaiba who was glaring at Joey. "Oh. Its you." Tea grumbled. Kaiba turned towards her confused. "What are you doing here, I thought you were at work."

Kaiba frowned, the way she said that made it seem as though she was unhappy to see him. But that would mean their almost kiss was a mistake, maybe it was better not to say anything. Kaiba shook his head, no he always fought for what he wanted and was afraid of no man...or woman. "I need to talk to you." Kaiba stated simply.

"Well, talk." Tea said folding her hands across her chest, honestly he couldn't of been there that long and already he and Joey were squabbling, and it was most likely Kaiba's fault.

"Not in front of your friends."

"Anything you can say to me, you can say in front of my friends."

"This is personal..."

"And my friends just flew a very long way, so you better just spill it now."

Kaiba growled, clenching and unclenching his fist.

"Psst Mai, do you have any idea what's going on?" Joey whispered. Mai shook her head, she wasn't going to be the one to tell Joey, Tea's steamy adventures she'd had since the last time he was in America.

"By the way you idiot, those tickets were non-refundable." Mai said, smacking Joey on the back of his head. Joey rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and laughed.

"Whoops."

"Look, that kiss we almost shared, it was a mistake." Kaiba began closing his eyes.

"_What_?" Everyone but Kaiba exclaimed in unison. But she thought there had been so much chemistry between them.

"What I mean is, it would have been a mistake had it happened then, I want to take you out on a real date sometime, maybe tomorrow?" Kaiba said looking away from her. "I was thinking we could go to this private screening of a new exhibit at the planetarium, and maybe dinner."

"_Just what do you think you're doing moneybags_!" Joey shouted, stomping towards Kaiba while Mai grabbed Joey's ear, stopping him dead in his tracks. Joey growled and folded his arms across his chest, muttering obscenities under his breath.

"Sure Kaiba, its a date." Tea said, breathing a sigh of relief and smiling at the same time. Kaiba smiled at her and Tea's breath caught in her throat, he'd never smiled that way at her before, she felt her self instantly mesmerized and wave of anticipation wash over that hadn't been there before when Kaiba had uttered the words planetarium and date at the same time.

"Okay, I'll pick you up at 7:00 for dinner, and the exhibit starts at 8:00, the dress is formal." Kaiba informed her. "Well, I'll let you get back to your, friends." Kaiba said, his nose wrinkling in disgust at the thought of Tea's friends. "See you then." Kaiba said beginning to walk off.

"Actually I'm really glad I caught you!" Rebecca said grabbing Kaiba's arm before he could leave. Kaiba stared pointedly at her hand, but Rebecca didn't let go.

"Look, I want you to look over my Senior Thesis and do a peer review. I was going to go down to Kaiba Corp headquarters and create a scene." She added cockily. Kaiba turned around and looked at her. He had thought Rebecca would be finished with school by now, then again she was probably trying for another doctorate. She had certainly hadn't grown up much behavior wise, but the same couldn't be said for her appearances. She was shapely, almost as shapely as Tea. Her clothing however, instead of sweet and innocent was well, slutty in his opinion. She had on a blue jean miniskirt and a belly baring shirt with a teddy bear on it, paired with combat boots and her hair in a ponytail.

"I'm neither you're peer, nor do I care if you need a peer review, get one of these idiots to do it." Kaiba dismissed about to walk off.

"That's just it, they're idiots, even Tea and Mai aren't geniuses, you are, you could do a better job then anyone, I don't want just an adequate job, I want perfection!" Rebecca said grabbing Kaiba's arm again, Kaiba's eye twitched.

"Get your hands..."

"You're not scared are you?" She goaded. Kaiba rolled his eyes, maybe when he was 17 he would've fell for such a dumb trick but not anymore.

"Nice try kid."

"I'm not a kid!"

"You're acting like one."

"Please Seto it would really mean a lot to me." Tea said, trying his first name out shakily. Kaiba glanced over at her, no one but Mokuba called him that. But he supposed tradition dictated that lovers should be on a first name basis.

"Fine, lead the way loser." Kaiba said turning towards Rebecca, who smirked at him for some reason and dragged him off into the kitchen where they could still see what everyone else was doing, but get some quiet.

Another knock sounded at door. "Oh for crying out loud!" Tea said, opening the door, only to come face to face with Mokuba, who immediately grabbed her and kissed her, leaning her back.

"What's cookin', good lookin'?" Mokuba said, laughing at his own joke, before inviting himself in to Tea's house.

"You, if your brother sees you doing that again!" Tea hissed, as everyone else stared at Tea in shock. Tea lifted a finger to her lips, begging all of her friends to keep quiet. For the first time in her life they all shot her dirty looks (well all the males actually, Mai and Serenity were secretly giving her the V for Victory sign.)

"Seto's here?" Mokuba asked, noticing his brother in the kitchen, reading, something with Rebecca Hawkins. "Is he helping her out with her homework?" Mokuba asked remembering that his brother still had a couple of days left of servitude.

"Yep." Tea said, breathing a sigh of relief on the inside, she'd forgotten all about Kaiba's servitude, he actually still owed her two more days. Mokuba looked behind Tea, and saw everyone from Japan.

"Oh my gosh guys, hi!" Mokuba shouted, waving to them. Kaiba looked up, great now his brother was here. He loved his brother to pieces but he hadn't wanted to be with anyone but Tea at the moment.

"_Any luck with the ladies_?" Duke asked. Mokuba nodded.

"_Yeah, all the advice you gave me when I was in elementary school still works!_" Mokuba laughed.

"_Cool just remember to only pass my flirting handbook on to someone who is worthy, you didn't read anything I told you not to ahead of time did you_?"

Kaiba shook his head, so that's where Mokuba had gotten his so called talent with women from. He knew he should never have let Mokuba go to Yugi's sleepover all those years ago, but they had promised to behave appropriately! He was pretty ticked but it was too late to worry about that now, Mokuba wouldn't let him burn that book or beat Devlin no matter how badly he wanted to.

"_No I wasn't interested in sleeping with girls then, but yeah, I really shouldn't go into all of that right now, it was very immature_." Mokuba said, waving a hand dismissively and winking at Duke. Duke caught the message and nodded, they were both probably pissing off their respective girlfriends right about now.

"_Anyway, Tea, how are things going_?" Yugi asked. This was all much to much drama to take in, on one day.

"Oh yeah, where are my manners, lets all sit down!" Tea said, as she and Mai pulled out a bunch of bean bag chairs from the closet and sat them around the TV in one big circle.

"So anyway Tea, how's everything going?" Bakura asked again.

"Great I'm doing on a show Broadway even, Le Star, you have to come see it!" Tea said clasping her hands together.

"_That's great Tea, I always knew you would make it_!" Tristan said, giving her a thumbs up.

"And what about you General Taylor!" Tea exclaimed, playfully punching Tristan on the arm.

"_Ah it was nothing_!" Tristan said rubbing the back of his head and laughing, he didn't really like to talk about his huge accomplishment, but it was, hardly anyone was a general at that young of an age. The four star general over him had even said he was on track to one day be the Prime Minister. And even if didn't, he had fulfilled his lifelong dream of being a pilot, and so much more. Not bad for a D student from the wrong side of the tracks.

"What about you Yugi, how are things going on your end." Tea asked.

"_Oh me, teaching is great, I'm really glad I chose to teach at the University level though, that way I can continue my research_." Yugi explained. "_But its not very hard being so renown for my studies in Egyptology, it helped that I got see first hand how some things were done_!" Yugi added. His trip to Egypt had certainly done more for him then to teach him how to stand on his own two feet, even after the Pharaoh had finally found rest.

"_Hate to brag, but I still make more money than anyone here, well except for Mokuba and Kaiba of course_." Duke said arrogantly, leaning forward.

"_Then don't or I'll ruin you_." Mokuba laughed. Duke swatted Mokuba on the arm and they both laughed.

"_Anyway, I couldn't of imagined the success of Dungeon Dice Monsters, and Serenity here, is a surgeon now_." Duke said, wrapping his arm around Serenity.

"Oh its no big deal, I just wanted to help restore people's eyesight." Serenity blushed.

"Don't be so modest, you're a big deal."

"No you're a big deal." Serenity said, looking up at Duke. "You're amazing."

"No you're amazing."

"Well you're more amazing."

"No, you're more amazing." Duke said, as he and Serenity stared in each others eyes, and kissed after each amazing.

"We get it, you're both amazing!" Joey grumbled. Mai swatted him on the back of his head, but knew it wouldn't really matter, ever since he'd accidentally kissed Kaiba he'd been in a bad mood, it was understandable. Mai kissed him on the lips, and Joey looked at her questioningly.

"What was that for?" Joey asked, Mai shrugged and leaned into him, as Joey wrapped an arm casually around her.

"What about you Bakura, I haven't heard from you in a while?" Tea asked. Bakura shrugged.

"I own a hotel empire in England, no big deal." Bakura said, Tea's eyes widened only Bakura could say something like that so modestly, and the shorter, spiked hair looked good on him. His fashion sense hadn't changed at all though.

"How are classes going?" Tea asked Joey.

"Fine." Joey growled simply, then getting up he walked off. "I'm going for a smoke." Joey said, slipping his black jacket over his plain, white T-shirt and heading out the door, Mai hot on his heels. Tea's eyes softened, Joey had been really upset lately, with the wedding coming, and Mai having to pay for it.

"_Don't mind him, he'll get over it, nothing can really get him down_." Tristan said, and it was true, when compared to everyone else in the group Joey had not been nearly as successful, and at first Joey had been a little jealous of his success, after all they both had been complete idiots in high school. But Joey was still working incredibly hard to better himself, and had manged to stay away from the alcohol that had ultimately claimed his father's life two years ago. He usually was cool with the way his life had turned out, but with everyone talking about how successful they were, any 23 year old who was still attending a community college would probably feel inferior.

"Anyway, you guys enough about your jobs, I want to hear about your adventures!" Tea laughed.

"_Well, I got a funny story.._." Yugi began, when suddenly Tea heard Kaiba laugh, and for her to hear him laugh, he must've been quite loud. Tea looked over at Kaiba, who was adamantly discussing something with Rebecca.

"Does anyone need anything to drink?" She suddenly asked.

"I'd like some water if wouldn't be too much of a bother." Bakura replied.

"Anyone else." Tea asked.

"_I'm good._" Serenity answered.

"_Me too._" Duke added. Everyone else agreed and she walked off into the kitchen, purposely eavesdropping on Kaiba and Rebecca's conversation. She slowly looked for a cup as Kaiba finished the last of the 30 page report.

"Well for one thing, holographic emitters use a 12 bit projection facilitator, not a 6 bit." Kaiba chuckled a bit again, "Honestly, 6 bits, please if it used 6 bits the simulacre would only last for a few seconds." Tea suddenly laughed too, and both Kaiba and Rebecca just looked up at her, blushing awkwardly she turned on the water as a silent explanation for her presence. Kaiba shook his head, highlighting the mistake. "Grammar wise its good, but it feels kind of superficial, you didn't expand on the argument enough. All though I totally agree with you." Kaiba said nodding. "Hm, I wasn't aware of the Trisector experiment, I'd of liked to see more about that, its fairly recent, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but I don't know, for me the experiment was fundamentally flawed." Rebecca said, drumming her fingers on the table.

"How so?" Kaiba asked. Tea sighed and walked out of the room, she didn't understand anything they had been talking about. Handing Bakura his water she stared back into the kitchen at Kaiba and Rebecca, a mix of emotions. She was jealous that Kaiba was talking so animatedly to Rebecca while he never talked that way to her, they seemed to get along better than she and him initially did too. She also felt inferior for the first time because she'd never be able to stimulate him intellectually the way Rebecca seemed to be able too. In fact she'd never seen either of them more focused on what the person was saying, or anyone else, than right at that moment. She realized that being a genius was both a blessing and curse because it was so rare you got to talk to someone like yourself, and that it often caused geniuses to feel isolated from their peers, and could lead to depression, which is why they so often went to special schools, or college. It was good for both of them, but she still couldn't help but wish that they weren't around each other. She didn't know why she had made Kaiba help her in the first place. But most off all she felt lonely, it made her realize how desperate she was for a significant other in her life, and not just a fling, the real thing. She looked at Duke and Serenity cuddled up with each other, as they both talked and laughed, their eyes shining brightly. Turning back to looking at Kaiba and Rebecca she stared at them, no longer knowing if she was doing the right thing for herself.

"Hey Tea, what are you staring at my brother for?" Mokuba suddenly asked. Tea snapped out her reverie, and looked up at Mokuba. Realizing it was her chance to come clean and make things right she opened her mouth, but then stopped as she stared into his storm gray eyes and got lost in them. She didn't know which Kaiba brother she liked more, and she didn't want to embarrass Mokuba or Kaiba, they both deserved better than that.

"Nothing, I'm just lost in space." Tea replied softly. Mokuba frowned, she was lying to him, but why. There couldn't honestly be something between his brother and her, the very idea was laughable. But Tea obviously didn't feel the same way as she looked towards Kaiba again. Then Mokuba realized that Kaiba had been acting, strange lately, he didn't prattle on about grades nearly as much, and he was leaving work early, no one had even been fired since he started doing so called chores for Tea. It was strange that his brother would even give into something like that so easily. So there was something between them. Mokuba clenched his hand into a fist. His brother had known he had feelings for Tea ever since he was 11 years old, how could he do that to him, to Tea. It was obvious that it was tearing her up inside, leading this double life, but it was obviously hard for her to chose, she probably just had some misgivings about his age or something. Well he wasn't going to give her up without a fight. His brother had said something about setting up a private meeting with someone tomorrow night, and had told him not to bother coming to the planetarium. It was probably a date with her. He'd just have to make sure Tea never made it to the meeting, it would only take her standing him up one time to send him running away, his brother was mistrustful enough as it was.

"Hey Tea, want to go out tomorrow, say 6:30." Mokuba blurted out.

"Sure." Tea said, not paying the slightest bit of attention. Everyone else stopped talking and stared at Tea in disbelief, then at Mokuba.

"Well I'm out of here, see you guys later, bye." Mokuba called waving goodbye, and leaving quickly so Tea couldn't back out of their date before he left.

"_What, what just happened._" Yugi asked, his voice full of concern and disbelief.

"_Mokuba just screwed over his brother, and I'm pretty sure it was on purpose._" Duke answered, his mouth hanging open. Mai and Joey came back inside as Kaiba stood up to leave, Rebecca, Joey and Mai couldn't help notice that everyone was staring at Kaiba, though Kaiba ignorantly assumed it was because they knew about him and Tea. He personally couldn't wait to tell Mokuba.

"Goodbye Tea, Hawkins." Kaiba said, giving a short, curt nod before making his exit.

"Tea, I don't think this is a very good idea, the Kaiba brothers are..." Yugi began, grabbing Tea's hand.

"_You wouldn't would you_." Tea said coldly. "_Just accept it Yugi, I don't love you anymore like that, and everyone else just stay out of my business. Don't think I didn't see the dirty looks I saw you all give Kaiba, its not his fault and its none of any of you people's business_." Tea snapped, storming up the stairs before she hurt someone else, she had to control her emotions. But it was hard to get a grip on her anger, when Kaiba had been so nice to that ugly Rebecca Hawkins. Tea shook her head, that wasn't right, Rebecca wasn't ugly at all, she needed to get a grip on her emotions. No other man had ever made her feel this way, Tea stopped in her tracks, there hadn't been any other man. But she couldn't be falling for Kaiba that quickly, they hadn't really even gotten that much time to themselves yet!

* * *

Kaiba arrived at the mansion and taking off his shoes, and jacket, plopped down on the couch where Mokuba was watching some dating show. 

"Hi Seto, finished helping Rebecca that soon." Mokuba asked innocently. Kaiba tucked his feet onto the couch, stretching his legs over Mokuba's and resting his head on the armrest. Looking up at the ceiling he blew a bang out of his face.

"Yes, she's actually quite bright, it wasn't horrible." Kaiba stated. Mokuba rolled his eyes.

"So anyway Seto, Tea was staring at you pretty hardcore today, it wouldn't have anything to do with your private meeting tomorrow, would it?" Mokuba asked. Kaiba leaned up and looked over at Mokuba, a soft smile gracing his features before he resting his head back on the armrest.

"So you figured it out, yes it has everything to do with that, in fact its not a meeting at all, its a date. I'm actually pretty excited." Kaiba answered. Mokuba frowned.

"Why did you do that?" Mokuba asked, staring at the TV.

"What?"

"Why, you know I've liked Tea since she I was 11, so why her of all girls?" Mokuba asked. Kaiba frowned.

"I'm sorry Mokuba, I thought you were over that by now, if you don't want me to..." Kaiba began. Mokuba shook his head, pretending it was okay. He wanted his brother to feel what it was like to be betrayed by his own brother, the way Kaiba had stabbed him in the heart by not even telling him his feelings about Tea. Making him feels sorry him for the all the manual labor Tea was making him do, when all the while they were, doing who knew what. Kaiba had known how Mokuba felt, he had known, and if he had simply told him about her, he wouldn't have allowed himself to fall in love with her, he wouldn't of kissed her, he wouldn't of dated her! But he hadn't, he'd been sneaky and uncaring, and now it was time for him to see how it felt.

He'd already forgiven his brother for betraying him by accusing him of telling Gozaboro about his plan to take over the company when he was younger, he'd forgiven him when he'd treated him like crap those 6 months after he'd taken over before Yugi come into their life, he'd even forgiven him for not allowing him to have friends when he younger, and for not allowing him to hang out with certain friends now. And all of this forgiveness came from the fact that his brother seemed to always have his best interests at heart, no matter how misguided his actions were. And as for the short time he'd been treated like a nuisance, before Yugi had expelled the evil form his heart, well he had never really considered that his brother, more like the product of Gozaboro's sick imagination, and his brother had apologized over and over again, even nearly throwing away his own life to make it up to him. So he had forgiven him, but there was only so many times he could be forgive him.

Mokuba drummed his fingers on the side of couch then looked towards Tea. "You know Tea had a weird look in her eye, so did everyone else." Mokuba casually noted. Kaiba grunted, he'd noticed it too. "Are you sure she really likes you, are you sure she won't just stand you up tomorrow. I mean her friends are here pretty suddenly, maybe they all planned it, to get back at you. Maybe they're all just going to laugh at you, to tell you the truth I don't think Tea could even like a guy like you."

"A guy like me?" Kaiba questioned confused, that same thought had crossed his own mind briefly, but he had merely shook it off as Gozaboro talking, after all who couldn't like him, he was the second closest thing to perfect he'd ever met. The first thing being Mokuba.

"Well Seto, and don't take this the wrong way, because I love you, but not very many people could, not even our own family liked us enough..." Mokuba trailed off letting his words sink in. "Not that that was your fault, of course, they were all losers anyway, they were squares and we are circles, right?" Mokuba hastily added, referring to when Kaiba had explained to him that just like with the baby toy where you had to match the shapes, people have to match too, otherwise it was impossible for them to like you, and because they were so different, they couldn't trust anyone because they didn't really fit into all of those families that had decided not to adopt them both. His logic had been that Mokuba was the cutest kid in the entire world and that he himself was the smartest and that all those squares couldn't hold a candle to them, and that some people might look like circles but they were ovals and couldn't be trusted because they wouldn't fit, and would only get stuck. They simply needed to find another circle to make their dreams come true. Unfortunately he'd also thought Gozaboro was that circle.

"Tea wouldn't do that, she, she just wouldn't. She is not like all those other people, she is a circle too. She even has the circle of friendship." Kaiba whispered.

"You never liked friendship, you always thought it was for the weak, do you really think you two are compatible."

"What are you getting at." Kaiba finally snapped angrily. He understood Mokuba was mad, but he didn't have to make him feel like trash.

"I'm just saying don't get too attached, be careful okay?" Mokuba asked, and this time he meant it, he didn't want to emotionally scar his brother for life, he just wanted him to sulk in his room for a few days, bury himself in work for about a week maybe, and then move on with his life. He was too good of a person to end up alone, heck it would be a crime against humanity if he didn't end up an uncle, because any little kids raised by his brother would be assets to the world.

"You act as if I'm head over heels in love with this girl, I trust her that's all, and I want to be more than just her friend, she's the first person I've completely trusted in a long time. But if doesn't work out, I'll move on, I'm a warrior." Kaiba said, flexing a muscle. Mokuba and Kaiba both laughed although they both knew full well it was true. "Well I have some work I need to do." Kaiba said getting up.

"Okay Seto." Mokuba said.

"Oh and Mokuba, thanks, for everything. I really am sorry she's the first girl I like, I didn't mean for it to happen and if I could take it back I would. I know how hard this is for you, and its nice to know that you're there for me too. I'm nothing like Atlas." Kaiba whispered so only Mokuba could hear. Mokuba hugged his brother.

"And you never will be as long as I'm here." Mokuba promised, he wouldn't be dating Tea, but he wouldn't ever let his brother be alone, not so long as he was breathing.

"Well I really should get to work..."

"Okay, later."

"Later."

"Seto." Mokuba called out suddenly feeling guilty. Kaiba turned towards him.

"Yes." Kaiba asked, Mokuba sighed, it was the only way to keep those two apart.

"Make sure you get plenty of sleep, girls don't like guys who can't pay attention to them, or those that can't take care of themselves, let alone them."

"Okay, I will." Kaiba said going up the steps. Mokuba blew a bang out of his face.

"Great, just great."


	11. It Started As An Ordinary Day

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or the song The Way You Do the Things You Do by UB40

_Japanese _

* * *

Mokuba skidded across the red and black linoleum flooring of his kitchen, in his socks, before coming to a stop right next to a maid. Twirling her around, he grabbed the broom that she was carrying and began playing air guitar with it. Flustered, but use to his antics by this point in time, the older woman shook her head and grabbed a new broom out of the broom closet and went back to work. The elder Kaiba expected no less than perfection when he woke up in the morning.

"The way you do the things you do" Mokuba sang into the handle, swinging his hips, whilst swinging his arm in a big circle in an exaggerated fashion that neither had anything to do with the song he was singing nor any actual way of playing a guitar.

Meanwhile, Kaiba jumped 10 feet into the air out of his sleep as his alarm clock suddenly started blasting heavy metal music, at the loudest volume possible, and clutched his heart. Kaiba frowned, knowing full well who reset his alarm clock, turning off the alarm, he switched it to the classical music station. He showered and got ready for work, all the while pretending to conduct the orchestra as the sounds of Beethoven, Mozart, and Pachelbelwafted through the room. Putting on a small bit of cologne, he slipped into his black dress suit, and tying his tie, headed down the stairs. Only to be greeted with out of tune singing.

"If good looks were minutes, you know you could've been an hour." Kaiba rolled his eyes and grabbing the newspaper from the small end table next to the couch, walked into the kitchen. Mokuba smiled and danced over to his brother.

"And baby your so smart you could've been a school book. Well you could've been anything you want I can tell, come on Seto sing it." Mokuba said, pushing the mop handle into his face.

"_Why aren't you dressed_." Kaiba asked, folding his arms across his chest, as he glared down at his brother, who was parading around in his dress shirt, boxers, and a pair of socks. Mokuba frowned.

"The way you do the things you do!" Mokuba shouted loudly, returning to singing. Kaiba snatched the broom from Mokuba, and snapping his fingers, he handed it to a nearby butler, and then proceeded into the kitchen.

"_There is only a half hour until we have to leave, therefore I advise you to get dressed for work, just because its a Saturday doesn't mean you get to slack off._" Kaiba said, sitting down at the kitchen table. He began re-reading his newspaper, as a signal that the conversation was over. Mokuba blew a bang out of his face, and shrugged, and ran upstairs. Coming back down stairs in less than five minutes in a pair of black jeans that could almost pass as dress pants (almost), and a sports jacket.. He saw Kaiba's breakfast being placed in front of him, and smiled, pulling out a kitchen chair and spinning it backwards.

"_What's for breakfast?_" Mokuba asked, looking at his brother's plate. "_Miso soup, tofu, grilled fish, fermented soybeans, and plum tea._" Mokuba said, listing off his brother's food. Kaiba took his chopsticks and began eating the Natto (fermented soybeans). Arching a brow at his brother's face.

"_Problem?_" He asked. Mokuba shook his head, and poked at his own food.

"_I think I'm just going to have cereal, and maybe some tea." _Mokuba answered, pinching his nose. "_Man those beans stink."_

"_Eat your beans."_ Kaiba said, pointing at Mokuba with his chopsticks.

"They also taste like dog food." Mokuba said, as a maid removed his tray, taking out the small bowl containing the offensive beans down on Mokuba's new tray, which also had a bowl of cereal and piece of cinnamon toast. She poured the tea into his cup from a ridiculously ornate, white porcelain tea kettle, and then walked off. "This is more like it." Mokuba said rubbing his hands together. Kaiba shook his head, taking a bite of his fish and a sip of his soup (having already ate half of the natto and rice) and then sipping his tea idly. Finishing off his entire breakfast before Kaiba had finished either his soup or his tea, Mokuba raced up the stairs to pack his briefcase. Kaiba shook his head and took a sip idly of his tea. Seeing that Kaiba wasn't going to eat anymore of his breakfast, the same maid took away the trays as Kaiba's butler set his briefcase on the table, next to the saucer laid on the table so that Kaiba's tea didn't leave a ring.

As Kaiba read an article about some stupid girl who had run away from home to meet a guy she'd met on Myspace, he suddenly thought about his own brother. Initially, it was more along the lines of, at least Mokuba isn't that stupid, but then a thought crossed his mind. Mokuba was his usual, happy, exuberant self today. Which wasn't right for the simple fact that Mokuba was grounded for the next two weeks, he'd also seemed a little to happy to be waking up earlier than usual on a Saturday, he'd even been up before him albeit not fully dressed. Folding his paper neatly and placing it down on the table, where it was promptly snatched up and recycled by yet another maid, Kaiba made his way up the grand marble staircase up to Mokuba's room. Leaning against his door frame, and folding his arms across his chest, Kaiba glared at Mokuba, until his younger brother felt his eyes on his back.

"_No_." Kaiba growled, and with that he pushed himself up off the door frame and left. Raising an eyebrow, Mokuba shrugged and putting the rest of his homework, a car magazine and risqué, but not quite pornographic magazine into his briefcase, along with other assorted work and documents he'd had to take home. He really had no idea what it was Kaiba was forbidding him to do, therefore he could do it and plead the fifth later. Yes, his brother wasn't the only intelligent Kaiba. Going down the stairs, he and his brother headed off to work.

* * *

Tea moaned, as she fell of the bed with an undignified grunt. Reaching up to her alarm clock from the floor, she hit what she hoped was the snooze button. And proceeded to stay sleeping for another 15 minutes before another alarm clock across the room went off indicating she had not, in fact hit the snooze button. Groggily dragging her feet to the small bench that protruded from her wall, where a corner window let the sun shine in, she hit the snooze on that one too, and drew the curtains close. 10 minutes later, a third alarm clock went off on the other side of the room, she pulled it out if drawer, and fell down on the bed. 10 minutes later the second alarm went off again, and she jumped up out of bed.

"_I'm up, I'm up._" She grumbled to no one in particular, turning off the alarm. She went downstairs, and proceeded to put on a pot of coffee, pulling out the sugar and the cream. Pouring herself a bowl cereal, she ate it lazily, idly watching the cereal drop from the spoon and back to the bowl. Once the coffee was finished, she poured ample amounts of sugar and cream, stirred it up, and slammed it down. "_What would I do without you._" She asked the cheery yellow coffee mug. Laughing at her own foolishness, she yawned and stretched, before going up the stairs to shower and get dressed. She really did hate early rehearsals. Hearing all the noise, Tea was making Mai yawned and stretched out, covering her mouth delicately with her perfectly manicured hand. Untangling herself from Joey, who snorted and turned back over on his side, she got up and immediately took a shower and brushed her teeth. Slipping on a pair of designer jeans, and a pair of high heeled shoes, as well as cute, small designer midriff baring top. After fixing her hair, and giving Joey a small peck on the cheek, she headed down the stairs, and poured herself a cup of the coffee that Tea had made. Tea came down a short while later dressed in leggings and an over-sized T-shirt.

"Good morning sunshine." Mai said, as Tea came back down the stairs. "You're up early."

"Morning." Tea said, pulling her hair back into a ponytail, while frowning at Mai's perfectly curled hair, that cascaded down her shoulders. No one had a right to look that good, a full hour before they had to be anywhere. "You're looking lovely this morning." Tea said, not hiding the contempt from her voice. Mai laughed.

"You would too, if you spent more time on you're hair." Mai responded pointedly. Tea blew a raspberry at her her while shaking her head.

"Too early, they're making us practice a whole hour earlier than usual. I need that hour for my beauty sleep, hence this." Tea said pointing at her ponytail, which really didn't look bad, it was neatly groomed. It just paled in comparison to Mai's glamorous hair.

"I wish I could get away with looking like that sometimes though, looking this good all the time is time consuming, but models always have to look like models." Mai said playing with her fingers. Tea shrugged.

"The grass is always shorter, I suppose."

"Greener, hun, the grass is always greener." Mai corrected. Tea blew another raspberry at Mai.

"Its too early to think, besides I'm dancer not an English major." Tea laughed, slinging her gym bag she'd packed the previous night over her shoulder.

"And remember to get you're but back here as soon as you can, Serenity can't make you look sick if you're not here." Mai called. Tea nodded, they had come up with the plan for Tea to feign illness and not go out with either of the Kaiba brothers. While Mokuba was young, and would probably just secretly leave and go out on a date with someone else, the elder Kaiba would probably stay and try to make her feel better. After he'd raised Mokuba all of those years, it was in his nature to take care of people he cared about, or so they assumed.

* * *

Kaiba propped his chin onto his head, as he stared disinterestedly at the ad executives in front of him, as they pitched their companies idea on how to advertise his new game system, the KCHIES (Kaiba Corporation Holographic Interactive Entertainment Computer.) Needless, to say the ad executives weren't too happy about the name.

"Mr. Kaiba, the name is not bad, but its not catchy either." One of the two executives said, wringing her perfectly manicured hands. Mokuba leaned forward, showing interests in what she said ostensibly, but in all actuality he was just trying to make eye contact. The woman was beautiful, with her long blond hair, striking green eyes, and in his opinion perfect mouth, not to thin, not to big, made to look all the better by light pink lipstick with matching gloss. She was sharply dressed in a black suit, with pink and white striped dress shirt.

"We think that your customers would want something hip and now, something that says I wear my cap backwards and live by my own rules." She said trying to make him understand exactly who he was marketing too. This wasn't little kids would just swallow whatever toy he put out, these were teenagers. She turned her gaze toward Mokuba, and caught his eye. Mokuba smirked a little, and she smiled back, both of their eyes saying meet me later.

"Um, what **Mrs. Sutton** is trying to say, is that you need a title that's hip and now. There are too many letters in the..."

Mokuba tuned out, frowning, as the woman gave a glare at her partner. A young man, with average good looks, his black hair trimmed professionally. He had on all the right clothes, his blue business suit with white dress shirt making him dressed every bit as professional as the man sitting across from him, but their was something not quite right. Maybe it was his hauntingly light blue eyes, or maybe it was the way he pulled his lips back exposing his teeth in a smile that clearly said I'm beneath all of you, or maybe it was his car salesman voice, either way there was something incredibly sleazy about him.

"No." Kaiba said, snapping Mokuba back into realty. "I think we're done here." Kaiba said standing up abruptly. Mokuba got up and looked at the proposal, the K box, not bad, but too similar to the X box, could even end up getting them sued for copyright infringement. Shaking his head, he shrugged his shoulders.

"Mr. Mokuba Kaiba." The woman called out, Mokuba turned towards her and raised his eyebrow. "I ..."

"Hope your husband is well." He replied turning off and running away, he usually went out of his way to be nice to women, but he hated anyone who would cheat on their husband. If they were just dating that was one thing, but once you made that life long commitment, you should honor it, in his opinion.

"That turned out to be a total waste of my time." Kaiba grunted, when his secretary came running up to him.

"Mr. Kaiba you have an appointment to keep with Mr. Tao at the three, its two thirty now, and the florists called and they said they don't have any more white gladiolus bulbs in for your garden, and was wondering if you wanted to wait or pick something else, also Professor Brinkley is line three to make the arrangements for your guest lecture at Harvard University, and Mr. Connelly is on line two but he wouldn't say why. Also your 4:00 appointment with Mr. Pegasus was canceled, as your meeting with the Executive board of V Tech, apparently they're holding out until you come to Germany, and they refuse to recognize you as Chairman of their Board until you do so, also your 5 o clock canceled because the children got sick, and Mr. Terry is in your office he's ready to meet with you about the designs for you new house in England." She said checking off things, and inputing information into his PDA. Handing it to him, she ran back to her desk to finish her paperwork. Sighing when the phone rang as soon as she got to the desk. Mokuba frowned as a message from his own secretary popped up on his own PDA. It was schedule, and half the things were misspelled.

"_Seto, can you fire Sheila for me? She never comes and updates me on my schedule in person, she's too busy sitting on her fat ass all the time, and look at this, half the things are misspelled. I expected more from a graduate from Dartmouth. Its an ivy league school, how the heck did this graduate_."

"_Well did you cross check her references, and pull up her transcripts, or did you just hire the first ivy league graduate that came into your office?_" Kaiba asked, pretending to look over his schedule when he was really playing chess.

"_I..._"

"_Checkmate_." Kaiba said, Mokuba raised an eyebrow and looked onto his brother's screen.

"_Still as good as ever, I see_." Mokuba sighed, shaking his head. His brother really should get out more. "_I know I could've done a better job of hiring her, but come on Seto, her resume looked great!_"

"_Did you make sure all of the things on the resume was true?_" Kaiba asked, sticking the PDA into the pocket inside his suit jacket. Mokuba shook his head sheepishly, "_Then fire her yourself._"

"_But Seto, you know much I hate doing that!_" Mokuba whined.

"_She's your personal secretary Mokuba, there is only two people who can fire her, she doesn't answer to anyone else, not even Human Resources, therefore its your responsibility_." Kaiba answered. "I_f you expect to be taken seriously as a business man, you're going to have to step it up, I can't baby you forever._"

"_Its not babying me._" Mokuba muttered, folding his arms across his chest and turning his head away. Kaiba arched an eyebrow.

"_Well, I have to get back to work, its not my job to take care of those in your personal employ, get to work_." Kaiba said, heading off to his office. Mokuba blew a bang out of his face as he made his way over to research and development. They were simply going to give him a long, boring status report, and he was less than enthusiastic, especially since he would have to hear more or less the same thing when they presented the prototype to his brother, but it at the very least kept him from having to fire anybody.

* * *

Tea stared blankly at the dancers in front of her, as she grumbled too herself. Sometimes being this good as she was at dancing was a pain in the butt. She didn't get to practice as much as the other girls, being an understudy, but she wasn't quite on par with the woman who was the lead. She was still better than the other girls though, hence she was the understudy for the woman who was playing the mother of the lead. She'd perform for one night, and the audience would probably bitch and complain that she wasn't the usual actor for the role. It didn't matter that she was just as good, the other woman was famous, and she wasn't.

"Sir, I'd like you too..." Tea called out to the director.

"Not now, Ms. Gardner, these other girls need my undivided attention, there is only one more week until opening night and they are not near ready."

"But..."

"You're already fabulous, you'll do fine, not shoo, I'll see you on Tuesday."

"But dress rehearsals are on Thursday."

"Miss Gardner, you shan't be in the show for another week after the opening, we have time, now shoo. Shoo, shoo, shoo." He said, waving her away. Tea sighed and hit the locker room. After getting dressed, she grumbled to herself. Checking her watch, she saw she still had a good two hours before she was supposed to meet Serenity at her hotel. Mumbling to herself darkly she decided to head home.

* * *

"_Seto, here you need to sign these_." Mokuba yawned, tossing the presentation papers on Kaiba's desk. Kaiba glared, and tapping the papers back together in a neat, orderly pile, he signed them. Sticking them in the out tray.

"_So, What did Mr. Connelly want?_" Mokuba inquired. Kaiba shook his head irritatedly.

"_He was begging me to invest in his company again, he seemed pretty desperate._" Kaiba said, when there was knock on the door.

"Who's there?" Kaiba called out, when no one answered, Kaiba looked at Mokuba expectantly, Mokuba arched an eyebrow, and Kaiba growled, standing up out of his char, even though Mokuba was only two feet away from the door.

"Scream and I'll kill yo_u_." Someone said, pushing in Kaiba's mouth before he had a chance to say anything. Mokuba's eyes widened as he put his hands up into the air.

"Easy now, we can talk about this, what do you want?" Mokuba said slowly, as Kaiba was forced to spin around, the gun pushed against his temple, and a cloth brought against his mouth.

"_Mmphm._" muttered from beneath the gag, though is words were to muffled to understand. Kaiba felt himself going weak, and within a matter of moments, his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he collapsed easily into the intruders arms. Dropping him unceremoniously to the ground, he tied Kaiba's hands behind his back and bound his ankles and thighs.

"That should keep him quiet." The intruder muttered, Mokuba watched for him moment carefully, and seeing the man rise to his feet he tackled him to the ground, knocking the gun out of his hands.

"What did you do to my brother!" Mokuba yelled, punching him to his face. Instead of responding the man pushed the chloroform soaked rag against Mokuba's mouth. Mokuba quickly pulled away, recognizing the feeling immediately (having been kidnapped so many times) and the man used the opportunity to kick Mokuba in the chest, sending him backwards. Grabbing the gun, he pointed at Mokuba before he had a chance to get back up, swallowing a scream, Mokuba glared at the man, before he on the side of the head with the gun, knocking him unconscious. He then proceeded to set up a barricade against the door, even though he knew no guards couldn't get in, he'd held some secretary hostage to get up to the floor in the first time. He pulled out Kaiba's office chair, and looked at his laptop, a grin formed across his face when he realized Kaiba was still logged in. Pressing a key, suddenly a message popped onto the screen.

"Unregistered User, Please Present Password." He read aloud, he stared at the screen blankly. "What would that bastard have as a password?" He wondered out loud.

* * *

Tea idly flipped on the news, when she read the headline flash across the screen.

"Breaking News, I'm standing outside the New York City headquarters from Kaiba Corp USA where a deranged lunatic as taken Seto and Mokuba Kaiba hostage, now many of the employees have already evacuated the building, but Kaiba Corp's Security Personnel headed by Roland Isonois inside, attempting to stage a rescue. Authorities say the man came into the building, posing as a representative for V Tech Industries, a company Seto Kaiba recently acquired though the board has yet to recognize the takeover..." A anchorman said, standing outside the main building. Tea dropped the remote and immediately ran out of the her house, not bothering to even lock the door, or wake Joey up as she made a mad dash for Joey's motorcycle. Speeding through traffic, and weaving her way in and out, whilst eluding the police she arrived at the building. Honking her horn at the throng of people outside, she raced trough them and then parking her car at the door she rushed inside. Pulling a gun out of her purse, she took an elevator up to the floor just below Kaiba's then climbed inside an air conditioner shaft. Slipping up it she looked through the gate, she could see Roland not really knowing what to do, he obviously couldn't just bust through the door. He seemed to be radioing someone. Shrugging her shoulders she crawled her way, looking for Kaiba's area, this was a lot more complicated than she had originally planned. Finally seeing Kaiba and Mokuba knocked out on the floor. Kaiba was tied up, and apparently whoever it was didn't see Mokuba as much of a threat because he wasn't.

She tried prying open the gate but it was locked. "_Now what?_" She whispered out loud.

* * *

"Access Denied Again, oh come on" The man yelled hitting the computer. "How the hell does this stupid thing even know I'm not authorized!" He growled in frustration, glancing over at Kaiba, who was sleeping dreamlessly on the floor.

"Maybe I knocked you out to soon." He muttered to himself. "Now lets see, If I were a dork what would I pick as a password, well something to do with Star Journey of course. Hmm, no, it wouldn't be that, okay if I was rich, powerful, sexy, game playing, dork with a dragon fetish what would I choose, I know, Blue Eyes White Dragon." He said, snapping his fingers.

"Access Denied." The computer said in a feminine voice. He growled and slammed his fist against the thing computer, suddenly a timer popped onto the screen.

"What the hell?" The intruder muttered to himself.

* * *

"Come on you stupid thing, budge." Tea said, doing slight push ups (she after all could only go up so far) in an effort to break the cover.

* * *

"Target is insight. Over." A voice came over Roland's intercom.

"Roger that, the police have given the okay, fire at will. Over." Roland said.

"Roger, Will Co. Over." the voice answered.

* * *

"Goodbye." The computer said, a laser gun coming out of the wall. The man's eyes widened, when suddenly a woman came crashing through the air ducts on top of him. Tea eyes widened in pain as the laser shocked her, and a bullet tore through her arm. Tea's felt everything around her go black.

"What the hell!" The intruder said, staying low to the ground so whoever it was who shot at him from the building across the street couldn't hit him.

After the shock of seeing some random woman come falling from the ceiling wore off, the sniper across the street cursed under his breath. Grabbing his walkie talkie, he radioed Roland back.

"You're never going to believe this, but some chick just fell from the ceiling and messed up my shot, the intruder seems to be unconscious though, she landed on top of him, is safe to bust down the doors. I repeat its safe to bust down the door. Over."

"What?!!?!?!..." Roland said in shock. "Er, Over."

"It is safe to bust down the doors. Over."

"Roger that. Over." Roland said, he looked up at the rest of the security squad. "Take down the door."

* * *

Tea regained unconscious, when she saw the intruder crouched low to the ground, near Kaiba's unconscious form. He had the gun pointed at the door, obviously ready to shoot the first person to come through the door. Growling Tea stood shakily to her feet, and tackled the intruder, biting the hand that held the gun.

"You little bitch." The man shouted, holding his hand. He slapped across the wall, when Tea made a mad dash for the gun, the gun being far away from both of them, and under Kaiba's desk when the intruder reached for it to. Tea kicked him in the groin, and the man crumpled to the ground and pain, crawling towards the gun, he grabbed her by the ankle and dragged her towards him. Pinning her too the ground, he smirked.

"Who are you?" He hissed, as Tea struggled underneath him.

"You're not going to get away with this, those men are going come bust through that door and blow your brains out." Tea spat. The man chuckled, taking off the mask that his his face. Tea stared up at the scar on his face, those piercing blue eyes, that blond hair, she'd seen him somewhere before but, where?

"Like what you see?" He asked, Tea spat on him as a reply. He wiped the spit of in anger and slapped her across the face.

"Fine then, be that way. You know you are probably right about those stupid American pigs, they are not policeman, and have already gotten the clearance to kill me, if need be. So perhaps I should enjoy my last moments, no?" He asked her, unbuckling his belt. Tea's eyes widened, before her lips were crushed by his. When suddenly the man slumped forward, crying out in pain as a whirlwind of feathers surrounded went sailing though the air.

"That's for trying to hurt my girlfriend." Mokuba stated calmly, a cold glare in his eyes. He shot the man again, this time in the leg.

"That's for not taking me a threat." Mokuba said again, he pulled the trigger again, but it only made a clicking noise. Pulling a knife out his boot he walked over to the man.

"Mokuba please, that's enough he's not a threat anymore." Tea said, more scared of seeing a side of Mokuba she'd never seen before than worried about the German man's well being.

"And this, this for hurting my brother, no one does that and lives to tell about it." Mokuba said, stabbing the man in the chest, killing him. Tea turned her head away, tears spilling down her face. Suddenly Roland burst in the door, Mokuba looked over nonchalantly.

"Clean this mess up, and take Seto home, he's going to be out cold for at least 10 hours, but he should be fine, have the nurses monitor him, just in case." He said, tossing the blade on the floor. "What are you crying over him for, do you have any idea what he was going to do to you?" Mokuba said, turning towards Tea in disgust. Tea sobbed, and Mokuba held out a hand. "Come on, you need to go the hospital, as though do I, he nailed me pretty good in the head here, I might need stitches." Mokuba said, running a hand through his hair, and cringing at the sight of his own blood on his hand. Mokuba turned around and kicked the dead body one last time.

"What was that for?" Roland asked.

"I'm still pretty ticked he didn't time me up too, I mean I know I'm five years younger then Seto, and I know even though Seto is unconscious right now, he's still not banged up as me, but I'd like to be taking seriously by somebody. Seto belittles me, the media belittles me, this jerk..." Mokuba said kicking him again, "belittled me, everyone does. I'm not a little kid anymore, I'm 17!"

Roland shrugged as a reply, and draped his coat over Tea. "Come on Ma'aam, we don't have time to waste here." He said.

* * *

Tea glanced backwards at Kaiba's sleeping form, as she and Mokuba near the foot of Kaiba's bed, watching TV. Kaiba's doctor said he was going to be fine, but she still couldn't help shake the awful feeling that overwhelmed her when she realized just how close to death they had all gotten. Staring at her traffic ticket blankly, she looked up at Mokuba, who was watching TV, back to his normal, sweet self. He had let her stay at the mansion until Kaiba woke up, he'd had his own personal doctors look at her, some of the best in the entire world free of charge, and he'd had the chef prepare her favorite meal. He'd invited all her friends over, though he made them wait downstairs in the living room, since he knew for a fact that they weren't his brother's favorite people, and as such had no right to be in his personal bedroom. He'd even massaged her legs, and shoulders, careful not to disturb her arm which was in a sling.

"Mokuba?" Tea said breaking out of her reverie. Mokuba turned towards her, raising an eyebrow a quirk he'd picked up from his brother. Tea shook her head.

"Never mind, its nothing." She said softly, Mokuba cast her worried look.

"Are you sure?" He questioned, his voice full of concern. Tea shook her head yes, and Mokuba gave her a skeptical look, before looking back at the television. Tea sighed, she really didn't know what she was doing anymore. Was it really right to do what she was doing to either of them.

She had always assumed that Kaiba was strong, and that Mokuba was emotionally balanced, that if they ever found out about her treachery, they'd get over it. But now she wasn't so sure, they both were hurting a lot inside, and they were both wearing masks to protect themselves. Kaiba kept his distance from everyone, so that they couldn't hurt him, so that they couldn't disappoint him, so that they wouldn't leave or betray him like pretty much everyone else in his life. However, his self confidence wasn't false, it was there. He was more afraid of someone using him, because he was so useful, the way his Aunt and Uncle had used up his inheritance, the way the orphanage had used his intellect to gain money, and the way Gozaboro had used, the way Pegasus had tried to use him. But Mokuba was another story entirely, he seemed to be making up for the fact that no one ever cared about him, that no one had wanted to adopt him as a kid, that he hadn't had any friends in the orphanage, however one saw him as merely something precious to Kaiba, his brother's shadow, but nothing of any real worth by himself, by having as many cheap, and fast relationships as he could. He valued quantity over quality, and presented himself as ever loyal and friendly as a way to say to the world, don't you want me? He also thrived on attention, something his brother just wasn't able to give, not as much as Mokuba wanted. So he acted out, did things he wasn't supposed, it was all a desperate cry for help, he just hid his behind a smile. He pretended to be normal, but inside he was just as cold as his brother, so desperate for warmth, and she was taken advantage of that, of them both. And they were both willing to go through incredible extremes for each other, even more so then a normal brother, they were so close to each other because there had been no one else to fill that void, because they were the only good thing, the only constant in each other's lives.

"Tea are you okay?" Mokuba asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. Tea jumped a little, shocked at being interrupted from her thoughts.

"I'm fine, I just, feel so..." Tea said, tears running down her eyes. Mokuba frowned and pulled her close to him, rocking her back and forth and rubbing her back.

"Shh, its okay Tea, you have me, I promise I won't let anyone hurt you. You don't have to be scared." Mokuba whispered in her ear. Tea shook her head.

"Its not that, I just, I just..." Tea hiccuped.

"Its okay, everything is okay, I promise." Mokuba said, rocking Tea until she fell asleep. Mokuba looked down at her, then over at his brother, glaring at his sleeping form. Tea was obviously feeling guilty, when she shouldn't. Kaiba was the one that asked her out on a date, it was probably very easy to fall in love with his brother, he was a great guy, but he'd known how he'd felt about the girl since Battle City, and he still asked her out. If his brother had simply fallen in love with someone else, Mokuba sighed. No, Tea was obviously a special case, who wouldn't fall in love with her, his brother had simply fallen victim to her charms, grace, beauty and intellect. He had no idea the two were actually an item, and since Mokuba hadn't talked to Tea in a long time prior to this whole mess, it was only natural to assume his crush had faded. His brother had never understood the depths of Mokuba's love, he couldn't have, because he himself had never loved, nor had he really known love. Everyone had been so cruel to him, so could he have possibly comprehended that you could love someone that much that wasn't your family. Mokuba sighed. His brother's life was still tough, and his job made him put him in constant danger, he could've lost him today, and he wanted him to find love before someone succeeded in their plans to kill him.

"_Don't worry Big Brother, Tea, I figure someway to get all of this out of this mess._" He promised them quietly.


	12. Anger and Love

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or Tonka Trucks or Montrachet 1978 from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti wine.

English

_Japanese_

Kaiba eyes slowly opened as he stared up the black mahogany wood ceiling of his canopy bed. Turning his head slowly, cautiously, still not quite remembering where he was, he looked over at the dark purple, solid, thick curtains that draped over from aforementioned ceiling, blocking his view into his room, and blocking maids prying eyes from his sleeping form. His eyebrows knitted together in confusion. Sitting up slowly, he leaned his back against the bed post and stared intently at the deep, regal curtains on the other side of his bed. Determinedly, he tried to put together the jumbled pieces of how exactly he'd gotten in his bed, what happened, and why it happened. He remembered his day had started out like any ordinary day. He'd had a simple, traditional, Japanese breakfast, a little slice of home. It had been a pleasant surprise prepared by his chef, not that he'd ever acknowledge vocally that he was beginning to get a little homesick. He remembered staying awake the previous night planning his and Tea's date, and how disappointed he was that the chef had served plum tea instead of coffee. He'd never say so much aloud though, because then he'd being admitting to actually needing the coffee.

"Tea..." Kaiba whispered. Had they gone on their date? If so, why couldn't he remember it? He'd gone to work, he had checked his schedule, and then…. He couldn't remember beyond that. There was something about a broom.

"_No, that was at breakfast, err, before breakfast. Yes definitely before breakfast, Mokuba was singing_." Kaiba reasoned, trying to put together the jumbled puzzle that was his mind. He rubbed his temples, stiffening. He suddenly remembered a gun being pointed at him, and gun's barrel pushing against his temple, rendering him unable to defend himself. Then he remembered some kind of strange smell. His eyes narrowed and he slammed his fist against bed post. He suddenly remembered; the hazy fog the chloroform had created finally lifting. Muttering obscenities under his breath, he slowly rose from his bed to clear his mind. He needed to remember not just what happened, but also figure who did it, and why. The first step would be remembering the attackers face. Pushing the curtain away from his face, he paused, as he noticed the curtains on his window wafting in the wind, the frosted glass doors to his balcony were open. He was not alone.

Kaiba stealthily pulled a gun from the nightstand next to his bed, and after preparing the gun to fire, he carefully pulled his arms close to his chest, the small hand gun pointing toward the ceiling. Creeping over to the curtain, he pressed his back into the wall, the cool air feeling good against his bare skin. Smirking, it was a beautiful night for revenge, or rather early morning; still the sun had yet to rise, preventing his shadow from getting in his way. Pulling the covers back, he saw a figure, whose face he couldn't make out, gazing out at scenery, leaning against the guard rail, their arms folded in front of them. They obviously hadn't noticed him. Kaiba smirked and crept behind the man, and it was clearly a man, and pushed the gun into the back of his head. The blonde hair partially concealed the barrel of the gun. The figure stiffened.

"_What are doing on my property?_" Kaiba hissed.

"_Man, I told Tea I didn't want to watch you, but no, we all just had to take shifts._" Joey complained, raising his arms slowly. Kaiba frowned and backed off, lowered his gun, and slowly walked back over to his bed, where he placed the gun back on the nightstand. He turned around, expecting Joey to have followed, but unfortunately he was still staring at his lawn. Kaiba's eye twitched slightly, and he frowned.

"_Well, as you can plainly see, I'm fine now, so get out of my room, before I reconsider shooting you, small fry._" Kaiba spat, once again walking out into the balcony. Joey just gave him a disinterested look, and then looked back out into the balcony.

"_I really didn't care if you woke up on my shift, or not moneybags, so just calm down, I'll leave after I finish my cigarette._" Joey said, pulling a carton out of his jean pockets. "_Want one_?" He offered. Kaiba crinkled his nose in disgust at the wrinkled package that reeked of tobacco, the label Lucky Sevens just barely visible in the moonlight.

"_No, see I come from a family that doesn't like to kill themselves slowly_." Kaiba shot back, making his way over to the balcony. Joey's eyes hardened a bit, a mix of anger and sadness intermingling for a brief second, before he turned back around and slowly placed the cigarette in his mouth, shielding it from the wind with his free hand; he pulled a lighter from his pocket, and slowly lit it. Joey leaned back on the balcony, taking a long drag from his cigarette, staring out into the sky. Kaiba sighed and leaned against the balcony, staring out into his own lawn, wondering what it was that Joey found so fascinating. They both stared out in silence for a while; each leaned against the guard railings, thinking to themselves. So it startled Kaiba slightly, when Joey actually spoke again.

"_It was two years ago today._" Joey whispered. Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "_Well, two years, and_..." Joey rolled back the sleeve to his blue jean jacket, and checked his watch. "_Two years, 3 hours and five minutes ago_." Joey answered.

"_Since…_" Kaiba wondered aloud.

"_Since, my father passed away_." Joey replied. Kaiba's simply turned back towards his lawn.

"_Why are you telling me, I really couldn't care less_?" Kaiba asked, staring out into nothing. Joey shrugged, taking another drag of his cigarette, before turning back to the white rose bushes that lined Kaiba's dark, imposing, spiked fence.

"_I don't know_." Joey said shrugging, "_I guess I'm just stupid_, _I mean, I got a crummy job serving drinks at a coffee shop to naïve kids who go to a better school than I do, I got a tiny apartment that my fiancé pays for, and I've been going to a community college for four years now, and I still don't have a degree to show for it._ _And the only thing I can think about is that son of a bitch, even though he treated me like crap. And to top it all off you have a rose bush!_" Joey said with a strange detachment, almost like he was talking about someone else.

"_What does that have to do with anything?_" Kaiba muttered.

"_She, she smelled like roses._" Joey answered angrily, pulling out another cigarette and lighting it up. Kaiba glanced over at Joey from the corner of his eye, never once moving his body.

"_Deal with it_." Kaiba answered simply, his eyes once again staring at the rose bush. He of course knew exactly what Joey was talking about. The woman that had swept into Joey's father's life, some years after Battle City had ended. There was some stupid; fluff piece on the news about how the power of love had given a former alcoholic a new lease on life, his father had even cried on national T.V. Not that it really mattered, since he'd died a year later.

"_I am dealing it with, it's just, those damn flowers, and this damn house, and Mokuba, and most of all, you_. _If I was back in Japan, things would be a lot easier_." Joey said, blowing a smoke ring to ease the tension, and stress he was feeling.

"_I really don't see how I or Mokuba remind you of your dead, alcoholic father_." Kaiba spat out, angry that Joey would dare to compare either of them to him.

"_You don't remind me of him, alright, calm the hell down._" Joey growled. "_Its just, I don't know, I'm jealous, because, well because of Gozaboro_." And that was it in a nutshell; Kaiba would've laughed if he were the kind to wear his emotions on his sleeves. All these years he'd been angry that although both he and Joey could be complete and total jerks when they wanted to be, no one ever actually tried to change who Joey was as a person, but then those same people would hypocritically get in his face and demand him to be friends with them, demand that he change everything about himself and be their friend. Joey had been the biggest hypocrite of them all, even going so far as to suggest that when he claimed he didn't need anyone, that had included his little brother. When all along he hadn't made that big of an effort to see his own sister, or sing her praises on top of the hills. Yet everyone had accepted all of this, and then got in his face for some of the same behaviors, even if Joey was displaying a stupider, less sophisticated, dog like copy of his own traits. Turns out it wasn't hypocrisy on Joey's part, but jealousy.

"_I'd be jealous of me too, Wheeler_." Kaiba said, smirking cockily, folding his arms across his chest. Joey whirled around and glared at Kaiba.

"_I don't want your stupid money, or anything like that Kaiba, so shove it_. _I just…I just wish that I could forget him, you know_, _sometimes I wish I could be just as big of an emotionless, stuck up, uncaring, bastard as you, a jerk who no one would care about if they were to drop off the face of the world tomorrow_." Joey replied, once again, turning around staring at the moon. "_Sometimes I wish I was just a big of a coward as you are._" Joey said.

"_Sounds to me like you just want everyone to feel sorry for you…Oh my dad was mean to me, poor me, boo flipping hoo. Please, if you were really a man, you'd face you emotions head on, conquer them, and move on with your life. You're the coward._" Kaiba muttered. Joey stared at Kaiba for a minute, before taking one last puff of his cigarette. Throwing it to the ground, he crushed it into the cold, cobble stone pavement that made up Kaiba's balcony.

"_If by dealing with them, you mean running away and hiding like some sort of chicken, then no thanks_."

"_I've never run away from anything in my life._" Kaiba replied simply. Joey shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"_Whatever helps you sleep at night_, _I suppose._" Joey whispered, slamming Kaiba's bedroom door behind him. Kaiba stared at his bedroom door for a moment, before shutting his balcony doors, and closing the curtains. He then turned his attention to his bed, where underneath it he knew lay an old shoebox, full of pictures and memories he'd rather not relive. Shrugging his shoulders, he went to his dresser and pulled out a towel, slinging it over his shoulder. There was no point dwelling in the past, this was the now, and right now he needed to get dressed and ready for work. He also needed to figure, who exactly, had been trying to kill him.

Tea awoke to the smell of bacon wafting through the air. Slowly opening her eyes, she blinked a few times, taking in her strange surroundings. There was a humongous T.V. hung on the wall, inside a picture frame, where some sort of Blue Eyes White Dragon screen saver hung, the dragons wings out stretched, its head cocked back as it roared mightily at some off screen foe. Cat stretching her way up, she stared at the shiny, pristine black leather couch she had evidently fallen asleep on, a remote wedged into a small crack between the arm rest of the couch and the cushion.

"_Where on earth_…" She mumbled to herself, yawning and rubbing her eyes as though it would somehow change her surroundings.

"Good Morning Mademoiselle, I've already taken the liberty of putting your baggage in the guest room. If you'll follow me, I shall take you there, if it pleases the lady of course." A man dressed in a gray butler suit, said, rushing to her side. Tea stared at him as though he'd grown a third arm for a moment, and scratched her head, when pain suddenly shot through her arm. She stared at her bandaged arm in utter confusion for a moment, when she suddenly remembered where she was. This was no dream, this was the Kaiba mansion.

"Actually, I'm a little hungry and I usually eat before I brush my teeth since no one is awake when I am to be bothered by my morning breath, and I like my teeth to stay white for as long as possible. I suppose I could always brush them twice, but I'm way too lazy for that." Tea said laughing, running a hand through her hair.

"I see." The butler replied in a condescending, clipped tone. He obviously disapproved. Giving her one last wry stare, he motioned for her to follow him. "Right this way then, Mademoiselle."

"Way to make a girl feel gross." She muttered to herself, following him closely being extremely careful not to touch anything, since it all looked insanely expensive. "This place is like a freaking castle." She mumbled to herself as they made their way across the grand entrance of the manor, where a large, white marble, shiny floor managed to make the two sets of intricately designed staircases look even more like the entrance to the emperor's palace then to her boyfriend's home. She hadn't really taken too much notice to it the previous night, because she'd been more worried about his safety. But now that she knew he should be awake, and Mokuba had assured her he'd be safe, she was beginning to notice just how out of her league both Kaiba brothers were, and how easily they could use their power and influence to make her disappear, if they ever figured out what she was doing.

"Here we are, Master Kaiba is currently in the dining room, if you wish to see him." Tea nodded and thanked the man before stepping through the double doors to talk to Kaiba, excited that he was finally awake.

"_Good Morning_!" Mokuba waved, nibbling on a piece of toast as he reached in the cabinet for something.

"Oh, Mokuba, you're the Master Kaiba that guy was talking about? I was expecting your brother, is this, the dining room?" Tea asked looking around.

"Oh, he's getting dressed." Mokuba replied, pulling up a chair, and standing up on it so he could see better, his shirt riding up a little, revealing some of his toned abs, before he hopped back down, waving a candy bar in the air triumphantly. Tea blushed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Want some?" He asked, holding it out to her. Tea blanched, the words were in French. Even the Kaiba brother's candy bars were expensive.

"Um, sure why not, I'm starving." She said, taking a small piece, and trying it. "Oh my goodness, Mokuba, this is so good." Tea said, closing her eyes. Mokuba smirked.

"These little babies were imported from France." Mokuba said, taking a bite of the candy himself. "By the way, there is breakfast in the dining room if you want it."

"I thought this was the dining room." Tea said, looking around. Okay, so it looked more like a normal person's kitchen, only with metal appliances and cabinets instead of warm, brown ones, but there was a little island for people to eat.

"Nope, it's just through that door, I'll come with you." Mokuba answered. Tea nodded and Mokuba led her through yet another door, where trays of covered food on warming plates were situated. "Usually me and my brother are just served our meals at the kitchen table, but since there is company here, all eating at different times, this is more efficient, or some BS like that my brother said." Mokuba explained. Tea shrugged, those silver serving trays look like they cost a fortune, and she hadn't really thought about being served her food. She was just glad to not have to make her own.

"Bacon, eggs, hash browns, pancakes, waffles, fresh fruit, sausage, sausage gravy and biscuits, strawberries and whipped cream, muffins, Mokuba this is a feast!" Tea exclaimed, staring at the eloquently inscribed menu that sat neatly at the front of the food.

"It's really no big deal, Tea. Heck, you should get used to it, now that you're my girlfriend, I'll give you all of this and more, all you have to do is ask." Mokuba said, walking over to the table and pulling up a lid. "Here, let me make your plate, you can sit down."

Tea nodded dumbly, and sat down. She had never really thought about it before, but Mokuba was just as rich as his brother and could pamper her like princess if he really wanted too, not that she'd ever ask him to. Mokuba pulled out a bowl, and placed some strawberries in it, grabbing the can of whip cream, he slowly sprayed it on the strawberries. Grinning, he took a strawberry and ate it, deliberately slowly, teasing her with his overly loud mms and ahs.

"Hey, I thought you were making my plate!" Tea complained, Mokuba paused, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Oh, I'm sorry did you want some?" Mokuba asked, placing a strawberry in his own mouth. Tea snorted and got up to make her own plate, when Mokuba grabbed her and gave her a strawberry kiss. Tea closed her eyes, entangling her hands in his hair when a loud cough interrupted them, pulling apart reluctantly they looked up to see who had interrupted them.

"_Oh, don't mind me…I'm just trying to eat over here_." Tristan complained, walking over to the serving trays, and pulling off the lid to the sausage.

"_You got something on your lip there_." Serenity said pointing to the stray whipped cream; Tea sucked the bottom of her lip, nervously.

"_Erm, I'm just going to run upstairs and get ready_." Tea said, making a quick exit from the room.

"_What I miss_?" Duke asked as Tea bumped into him, running up the stairs.

"_Something so gross, it nearly made me lose __**my**__ appetite."_ Tristan replied. Mokuba punched Tristan in the arm.

"Cock Blocker!" Mokuba accused, before leaving the room. Tristan furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"_What is a chicken…_blocker?" Tristan asked. Duke fell to the ground laughing as Tristan and Serenity stared at him in confusion.

Tea was running up the stairs but paused at the scene before her. Kaiba and Rebecca were sitting on the ground, together. Kaiba had a laptop on his lap and Rebecca was leaned in real close, too close for Tea's comfort. Tea narrowed her eyes angrily.

"That is so cool!" Rebecca squealed, as an arrogant smirk crept its way onto Kaiba's face.

"It is far more than just "cool" it is state of the art security equipment, which I plan to put out into the market next February." Kaiba explained.

"Seto, you're awake!" Tea exclaimed, running over to him and throwing her arms around his neck. Kaiba carefully moved the laptop over to Rebecca, and then turned around fully so he could return the hug. Shooting Rebecca a dirty look, she then pretended to wince in very pain, and pulled her arm, which was currently in a bright pink cast, complete with signatures. Kaiba turned his attention from his laptop and began examining her arm carefully.

"_So the reports were true…_" Kaiba muttered. Tea officially now had his undivided attention. Sticking a tongue out at Rebecca who returned her look with a confused one, Tea grunted in pain.

"_Of course I came to rescue you, I couldn't help myself…_" Tea whispered, placing her good arm on his shoulder. "_You've come to mean a lot to me, stupid jerk_."

Rebecca shrugged, grabbed the laptop and went into Kaiba's study, where she placed the laptop on his desk. She paused, staring at a particular picture her green eyes widening in realization.

"Kaiba, I know who tried to kill you!" Rebecca screamed, running out of the study and trying to skid to a halt before toppling over Kaiba's legs and landing on him. She blinked a couple times and realized she was now straddling the young CEO, who had pushed Tea out of the way on instinct. Her hands, placed on either side of his head, their lips dangerously close. Blushing in embarrassment, Rebecca froze in place. Tea growled and rubbed her back, she had landed flat on her face on the floor. Sitting up she saw Rebecca straddling her boyfriend, and Kaiba for his part wasn't doing anything about it.

"Hawkins!" Tea yelled, causing Rebecca to come to her senses and rocked back on her heels, pulling Kaiba up off the ground with her.

"S-Sorry, I really didn't mean too…" Rebecca said waving her hands in the air frantically. Tea never called anyone by their last names if they preferred to be called by their given names, unless she was particularly steamed.

"First Yugi and now…" Tea growled, as Kaiba stared at Tea in confusion. It really wasn't like they had even been on a date or anything…they were about to, but he wasn't her boyfriend yet. He briefly wondered if she was the jealous type, but then glanced toward the picture on the ground.

"You better not finish that sentence." Rebecca growled, matching Tea's fierce glare with one of her own; completely forgetting that she was still in between Kaiba's legs.

"I don't know what female issues you two may be going though right now, but Hawkins, do enlighten me on why you're more concerned with staring down Gardner than you are with informing me about who you suspect was trying to kill me." Kaiba finally snapped. Rebecca turned towards Kaiba, her heated glare actually making him want to back up against the wall, though he wouldn't actually do that. He turned toward Tea who looked like she was going to kill him herself.

"FEMALE ISSUES….!" They both shouted at the same time.

"Where the hell do you get off…," Rebecca began.

"Telling me to get over…" Tea continued.

"My so called 'female' issues...!" They both exclaimed in unison.

"I didn't tell you to get over anything…" Kaiba hissed under his breath.

"Well then 'enlighten me' on what the hell else you meant!" Rebecca shot back, throwing his own words against him.

"You can go back to killing each other now." Kaiba sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Don't change the subject Seto Kaiba." Tea said, scooting over to him so she could glare him down. "Don't you ever, and I mean ever, say anything about female problems to me again." Tea said jabbing him with her finger.

"What would you know about female problems anyway? Last I checked your name wasn't in any tabloid dating anybody, no female friends, and no secret lovers! You didn't even have a mom…" Rebecca shouted. Kaiba glared at her.

"I don't need a lover or a mother to tell me what is obvious. You two are obviously PMSing; I've seen this exact behavior from the women I work…."

"For you information, I do not have PMS!" Tea shouted.

"Why the hell are you keeping track with your employees' flow, I think that might constitute harassment!" Rebecca shouted. Kaiba growled, he really didn't like losing battles, which this clearly had turned into, and he wasn't going to lose this one.

"You know what, there is obviously something going on between you two. If it isn't PMS then it must be some sort of jealously. You two can't seem to handle me talking to someone else of the female persuasion!"

"As if…" Rebecca shouted, without a moment's hesitation much to Tea's relief. She really was just interested in the technology Kaiba had, and not the man himself.

"You need to get over yourself; everything isn't about you or you over inflated ego." Tea chimed in. Of course she was only telling half truths, she had been mad that Rebecca seemed to be flirting with Kaiba, but mainly because the girl seemed to go after every good man she liked, with little regard toward her feelings.

"I know what I saw, don't sit there and lie to my face!" Kaiba shouted. "You thought that she was flirting with me, and got jealous. Or do you take me for some sort of fool? Is that it? Is this all some sort of game to you?" Kaiba shot back, incensed. He couldn't be misinterpreting what he saw, he just couldn't be, he wasn't entirely sure what Yugi had to do with anything, but why else would they have acted the way they had?

Tea at this point had her hands on her hips as did Rebbeca. Tea put her hands on her lips, trying to hold back her words. Rebecca cocked her head to the side.

"You know what you're right. You're the king of right, the rest of us are just walking around in our little kingdom of wrongness and hoping that the all mighty Kaiba will just float down and give us guidance, because you're so obviously always right." Rebecca said, cocking her hips.

"Heck maybe we should just erect a little temple to your rightness, and people should just bow down to you, I mean your always right, right?" Tea added. Kaiba stared at them in utter confusion, a blank look on his face.

Rebecca put a hand on Tea's shoulders. "C'mon Tea, let's get some breakfast." Tea rolled her eyes, turning around to leave. Rebecca turned around for a second, glancing at Kaiba over her shoulder. "You know, you're just like a poster child for PTSD." She whispered, before linking her arm with Tea as they sauntered off.

"Whatever." Kaiba muttered, picking the picture off of the ground. It was a picture of Schroeder and Leon, a clipping of a newspaper article talking about a deal that was in the works with Pegasus. He of course, had swooped in and killed the deal immediately after he learned of it. Threatening not to do any business with Pegasus anymore, and to stop playing duel monsters altogether, and he'd been serious, throwing the blues eyes white dragon in Pegasus' face to prove his point. He even told him that he'd convince Yugi to stop playing too, saying that what Yugi thought was a friendship between the two would overpower any feelings he had for the game, especially now that the Pharaoh had found peace. Pegasus of course couldn't afford to lose Yugi and Kaiba as the faces of his game, and Kaiba Corp had become synonymous with Duel Monsters, so he relented and agreed to pay more for promotional programs he hosted on Kaiba's premises from then on, as a show of good faith. Kaiba carefully folded the picture and tossed it carelessly back into his ebony desk drawer, where he thought he had left it in the first place. He would have to host some kind of something to lure Schroeder in and interrogate him. It was possible that Schroeder was desperate, since he now had powerful connections in Germany, and had tried to eliminate him. But he also couldn't rule out the possibility that the Valkners had something to do with the attempt either.

"What is Hawkins seeing that I'm not?" Kaiba wondered out loud, running a hand through his hair. "And what the heck is PTSD anyway?" Kaiba narrowed his eyes, and decided to enter the foreign acronym into his medical translator, figuring it would be some sort of medical terminology since she had said he was some kind of poster child for it.

"_Post Injury Stress Disorder…can be caused by child abuse, irrational behavior, emotional numbness, avoidance of behaviors, irritability, hyper vigilance, blah, blah, blah, low self esteem, angry or violent outbursts, blah blah blah, some children who experience child abuse may develop a distrust of others, as they view them as triggers…what the hell_!" Kaiba balled his hands into fist, so angry he really didn't know what to do with himself, he was afraid if he went down stairs, he might actually lose his cool with the two women and hit someone. Slamming his office door shut and locking it, so no one could see what he was about to do, he picked up a plump blue pillow from the sofa in his office, buried his face into it, and screamed.

"_Where does that little bitch get off accusing me of having…ARGH?_" Kaiba screamed into the pillow, knowing full well that no one could hear him outside of his office since the walls were sound proof, but screaming into the pillow anyway, just in case there was a worker in the bathroom he hadn't noticed. Pacing back and forth a little bit, Kaiba finally couldn't control himself and stormed down the stairs, into the dining room where he was sure the two would be. Everyone was sitting down, having breakfast, while Rebecca and Tea seemed to almost smugly pick at their own food.

"_Look at you, just sitting down on your little asses eating your little toast. Is that what you're going to do, just sit on your ass and eat toast all day?_" Kaiba shouted. Rebecca rolled her eyes, and Tea stifled a laugh.

"_And what is so funny, huh, Gardner, sitting on your ass all day and eating toast? Well tell me something who bought the damn toast? Who bought it_?" Kaiba yelled, slamming his hands on the table.

"And your point is?" Tea questioned. Kaiba's eyes narrowed.

"_My point is I bought the damn toast! And do you know how I bought the toast?_" Kaiba screamed.

"At the store for a buck ninety nine…?" Rebecca smirked, raising an eyebrow. Kaiba's eye began twitching and the younger girl briefly wondered how far she should push him.

"_I bought it because by working my butt off every single day since I was five years old. That's how I bought it. And do you know how I was able to accomplish so much, because I don't have any damn disorder! You're just jealous because the only thing you're good for is going to school. How many degrees do you have now, Hawkins? And you still have yet to accomplish anything with any of them. You're a loser, who no one would want to work with because you're such a loud mouth little bitch._"

"Now wait just a minute!" Rebecca shouted, rising from her seat. "Where the hell do you get…?" Kaiba turned around, completely ignoring her.

"_And you, you're nothing but a lying little two cent whore, that is why your so jealous isn't, because the only way you can usually get any is if you pay for it. Hell, I should probably be at a clinic right now, since you probably gave me oral herpes when you kissed me!_"

"_How could you say something like that?_" Tea cried, horrified, tears streaming down her face. Rebecca put an arm around her.

"For you information I just haven't found my niche in life, its not that nobody wants to work with me, because unlike you, I actually know how to treat people!" Rebecca yelled.

"_Maybe you could work the streets with Gardner here, you certainly already wearing a hookers' uniform. Hell, it's probably the only area of work where anyone would appreciate a woman with a big mouth._" Kaiba smirked.

Rebecca's eyes narrowed. "You know this is exactly the kind of behavior that made me think you might have something wrong with you in the first place! I was only trying to help you out, and the next thing I know you're insulting me and Tea! Why do you insist on pushing away the people who care about you? This is probably why Mokuba wants to go to school in the States; you push everyone away, acting like a rebel without a cause because that's easier than feeling anything!" Rebecca shouted.

"At least I don't kill them." Kaiba muttered, glancing away, an evil smirk playing across his lips.

"What?" Rebecca asked, eyes widening.

"Didn't your Grandfather die in an accidental electrical fire, caused by 'someone' wiring a science project wrong? Shouldn't a so called genius know better than to wire the damn thing the way you did?" Kaiba accused, glancing at Rebecca out the corner of his eye, head facing the sky in mock innocence.

"What are you suggesting?"

"I'm not suggesting anything, Hawkins, I'm stating facts. It's your incompetence that killed your Grandfather, and your incompetence is the reason you can't seem to find your 'niche'" Kaiba said, smirking at her. 

Rebecca slapped him across his face then ran up the stairs in tears, Tea hot on her tail.

"Tea, Rebecca wait!" Serenity yelled, standing up from her seat so fast that the chair fell to the ground. Mai stood up too, kneed Kaiba in his groin and then sauntered up the stairs. Kaiba glared at their retreating forms, before turning around to grab himself a bite to eat. It was at this time he noticed all the glares he was getting from the male occupants in the room. Suddenly a female maid came running down the stairs, and ran to the kitchen. A few minutes later she came back with four glasses of wine, "accidentally" bumped into Kaiba on the way back up the stairs.

"Oh, so sorry Mr. Kaiba, let me get that for you." She said, pulling a little bottle of stain remover from the utility belt across her waist and spraying it on him, pretending to accidentally get some on his face. Kaiba glared at the wall, as the woman scrubbed incredibly hard, and left a big, though not stained, wet spot on his clothes. Running back into the kitchen, she came back with four glasses and two bottles of the most expensive wine she could fine, and ran back up the stairs and on her way.

"I can't say you didn't deserve that, Seto." Mokuba shrugged.

"_I should punch you in the face_." Joey growled, hitting his fist into the palm of his hands. "_But I'm pretty sure Mai would be pissed if she didn't get to kick your ass first_."

"_Do you know what you've done, you've just sent all those women into a man hating frenzy, now none of us are getting any tonight, so I want to know where you plan on taking us tonight, because you sure as hell ruined my evening_!" Duke shouted.

"_Yeah…hey wait a minute, you better not be touching my sister_!" Joey shouted, turning towards Duke and grabbing him by the collar of his shirt.

"_Well I'm sorry your girlfriend cares more about her friends then she does you, but that isn't my problem._" Kaiba snapped.

"_You really don't get it, do you? Tell me Kaiba, when was your first time_?" Tristan asked suddenly.

"_First time doing what, arguing with a woman?_" Kaiba questioned, honestly confused.

"_Oh my goodness, he's a virgin_!" Joey suddenly shouted, jumping on the table and pointing at Kaiba.

"_Did Gardner tell you that?_" Kaiba growled, balling his hands into a fist. He glanced behind his shoulder towards the staircase.

"_No, it's just obvious by what you just said. See, you may have thought you won this little argument, but you haven't and you can't._" Duke answered, nodding sagely. "_See, you probably think you're going to do a little work, let her cool off, then she'll come downstairs and apologize to you for her part of the argument and making you that mad in the first place. And then you'll apologize for what you said, claim you over reacted, but because she apologized first you win, right?_" Duke asked. Kaiba thought about it for a second.

"I suppose that is the only logical conclusion, especially with Hawkins, surely she'll realize I said what I said out of anger, and that if she hadn't of acted the way she had in the first place, none of this would've happened. It is the only logical conclusion, since the whole thing started because she was straddling me." Kaiba pondered aloud. All the other men in the room erupted in laughter, which only served to tick Kaiba off further.

"_Women don't care at all about what is logical, you called her a slut and now you're going to have to come crawling back to her on you knees, to earn her forgiveness._" Duke replied.

"Trust me Seto; you better go up there with an apology, jewelry, chocolate and flowers. Right now, those women are up there complaining about all their men problems; and they are working themselves up into a man hating frenzy. So even if you go up there, there is a good chance you'll die." Mokuba added.

"I'm not apologizing for anything. If anything, she should be apologizing to me, she is the one that could've put my life on the line with her stupid little argument with Hawkins, which stopped Hawkins from giving me information that could lead to arrest of whoever tried to kill me! She's wrong, I'm right, and I refuse to apologize."

"_Do you love her_?" Yugi finally piped in. Kaiba turned towards the smaller man.

"_I'm not really sure, we haven't had a chance to start a relationship yet, and now it may be over before it begins_."

"_I didn't ask if you were in love with her, not that self sacrificing love, but do you love her_." Yugi repeated.

"_Yes, I mean, I don't know. I must admit this isn't my area of expertise_." Kaiba shrugged, running a hand through his hair.

"_Well, it's obvious to me that you really care about her, and if you really care about her, then she is always right_." Yugi answered.

"_That has got to be the stupidest thing I've ever…_"

"_You hurt her feelings, ignored her possibly valid feelings about Rebecca, and called her out of her name, when she was trying to help you. After she just risked her life for you, it doesn't matter that the way she went about it was _wrong_, she is still right, because she wanted to help. I'm not saying you have to bend to her every whim, I'm saying, when it comes to this emotional crap, when you've made her cry, you are automatically wrong, because she only had you in her heart, and you made her cry. That is why she is always right_." Duke shrugged.

"_Besides if you're lucky you can get some good make up action_." Joey added.

"_And tapping that more than makes up for some meaningless apology anyway_…" Tristan nodded.

"_Especially with someone as, passionate, as Tea is, you know she'd do anything for someone she loves right? And when I say anything, I mean __**anything**_." Yugi smirked. "_Trust me_."

Kaiba's jaw dropped at this new bit of information. "_Wait a second; did you ever…establish a physical relationship with Hawkins_?" Kaiba asked, trying to keep things as professional as possible. The mischievous smile that spread across Yugi's face said everything.

"_Oh! Oh, ah, ah, oh… shit!_" Kaiba gasped.

"_I don't kiss and tell, but…lets just say I'm very popular with the ladies_." Yugi answered.

"Way to go Yugi!" Mokuba said giving Yugi a high five across the table.

"_That is why Tea got so mad when I accused her of having female problems…_" Kaiba muttered to himself.

"You didn't?" Mokuba gasped horrified, inside though he was doing a victory dance. His brother had probably dug himself a hole far too deep to come out of. And if he had, then he could reveal his relationship with her, claiming that he had been comforting her and then one thing led to another. His brother would still be ticked, but he wouldn't feel betrayed or hurt, and he would be over to get over it.

"_Mokuba, I asked you a question._" Kaiba said: his arms folded across his chest.

"_Huh, oh, what…?_"

"_I asked you what I should do._" Kaiba reiterated.

"_Erm…_" Mokuba began. He really didn't know what to say. On the one hand he could see the concern on his brother's face, and his brother rarely asked him for guidance, so when it did happen once every four or five years or so, he felt obligated to give him the best advice he could. On the other hand, he was hoping that his brother crashed and burned colossally so he could get Tea for himself. "_Just…follow your heart big brother, if you go up there and admit your mistake and give a heartfelt apology, I'm sure she'll forgive you._" Mokuba whispered turning his head away. Kaiba stared at his brother for a second, this relationship was obviously bothering him. Mokuba had been pretty vocal about his crush on Tea since Battle City. Then again, he'd had thought himself incapable of feeling the way he was feeling ever again. He trusted Tea, with every fiber of his being, he wasn't afraid she was going to try to hurt him, and for him that was a big deal. He hadn't trusted someone other than Mokuba since he was only five years old, he didn't even trust Yugi fully.

"_Are you sure?_" Kaiba asked, trying to get Mokuba to understand he was asking for permission. Mokuba turned his gaze away from his brothers, pretending to find the buffet more interesting.

"_Go, before Mai and Serenity get her even madder at you._" Mokuba replied. Kaiba nodded, and ran up the stairs.

"And Joey…keeps postponing this damn wedding like it's a bad thing or something. He won't commit…and he…what was I saying?" Mai asked, beginning to feel the buzz of the wine. Serenity giggled and took her glass from her.

"_I think you've had enough_." Serenity said taking the glass from her.

"I'm just trying to keep it real here okay?" Mai said, wagging her finger in Serenity's face.

"_I don't even know what that means…_" Serenity replied. Mai bust out laughing, stumbling over her own feet and cracking up. Tea and Rebecca joined in the laughter.

"_You know what though; I have the worst story of all_." Serenity said, waving her hands in the air for everyone to shut up. "_Duke, get this, cheated on me a year ago_!"

"No!" Tea exclaimed, leaning forward in her seat.

"_Yep, I caught the jerk in my bed, MY BED, with some red headed bimbo_! _And do you know what he said?_"

"What!"

"_Baby, calm down, it was a mistake, baby I love you, baby!_ _I'm not his baby and the only reason it was a mistake is because he got caught. And he had the nerve to tell me he loved me._"

"That's because all men are liars!" Mai hissed, still sitting on her knees on the ground. "They lie; they lie with their….lies!" Mai muttered, feeling sleepy and burying her face in her arms, which were propped up on the couch.

"_Okay Mai_." Serenity said patting on her on her back, a bemused smile on her face. She never imagined she'd be able to hold alcohol better than the older woman.

"_Why did you take him back_?" Rebecca asked, crossing her legs. Serenity shrugged, taking a sip of her wine.

"_I'm just a fool in love, I guess_." She answered wistfully. "_Besides, I know why he cheated on me…I'm too fat!_"

"_You're not fat!_" Rebecca and Tea both shouted at the same time.

"_Lies!_" Mai muttered one more time, before falling asleep. This elicited a snicker from the other girls.

"_Well, I don't know where Kaiba gets off talking to me like that, but I got a good mind to go down there and kick his butt, I'm not his girlfriend, I don't give a flying crap if I hurt him._" Rebecca said, waving her hand in the air.

"_Do you think maybe I was too hard on him? I mean, he really couldn't have come to any other conclusion from what he knows. I mean you were straddling his lap._" Tea sighed, resting her hand in her chin.

"_No way Tea, Kaiba needs to get over his soggy self anyway. I mean what is the deal with him calling my brother names all the time? He's a jerk, and I don't know why you put up with him._" Serenity growled.

"_Well, all men are jerks, but Kaiba at least has a good reason to be._" Tea shrugged.

"_Oh he had a rough childhood, boo freaking hoo, so did Joey and I and you don't see us going around acting that way. He needs to just, get over it and grow up all ready_"

"_He probably doesn't even really care about you, he probably just wants to get some, I mean do you really believe him when he claims he has __**never**__ been with a woman before, I mean he is twenty three years old, I find that hard to believe._" Rebecca added. Tea sighed.

"_I don't know his brother isn't much better. I mean, I suspect I might just be one more notch on his freaking belt. I saw the cutest little high school girls fight over him; apparently he had slept with both of them_."

"_There is only one part of the body that men think with Tea, and it has nothing to do with brains_. _You noticed how Kaiba who is a man, albeit with um, limited experience, still started talking about the use for big mouths and sluts and all this other crap that had nothing to do with anything!_" Rebecca chimed in.

"_Honestly, the only reason men are even on this Earth in this first place is for one reason and one reason only!_" Serenity waved her hand in the air, raising her index finger.

"_You got that right, and they know it too, that is why it's the only thing they think about…_" Tea huffed, crossing her arms across her chest. When a tap sounded on the door, Tea rose to answer it but Rebecca pushed her back down.

"_Maybe we should answer the door._" Serenity said; her gaze fixed on the door. The tapping became more insistent by the second.

"_We should hear what he has to say, it's only polite._" Tea fretted.

"_You worry way too much about being polite. I'll handle this._" Rebecca said, standing up and rolling up her sleeves. She was ready for a fight.

"What do you want Kaiba?" Rebecca shouted through the other side of the door.

"Hawkins? Is that you?" Kaiba called back.

"How could you possibly mistake my so called loud voice Kaiba, memory failing you or something?"

"Look, I need to speak to Gardner."

"So speak, everyone can hear you."

"I need to speak to her **in private.**" Kaiba emphasized.

"Anything you can tell her, you can tell us."

"We don't want any of your lies!" Mai shouted suddenly. Serenity tried to shush the brazen blond, but Mai stood up and stumbled over to the door. "I'm tired of you men and your bullshit; go away, shoo, shoo!"

"Is Valentine intoxicated?"

"Going to make a crack at her too?" Rebecca shot back. Kaiba sighed.

"Look Hawkins, I'm sorry about what I said about your grandfather…I know full well that's the real reason you are upset. I was out of line, I've done some things I'm not all that proud of in my past, and I include what I said among those things. But I'd prefer if that is where it stayed, in the past, because I don't know, it's been nice these past few days talking to someone who I don't have to talk down to. Who understands what I'm telling them, without me explaining it to them, and even if I'm drawing from my extensive vocabulary." Kaiba closed his eyes; glad the door was blocking them from seeing the blush that had surely formed as he felt the heat rise to his face. In all honesty, he wasn't as sorry as he was pretending to be, but if he had to apologize to get to Tea, then so be it.

Rebecca opened the door, refusing to meet his gaze as she glared at the wall. "I'm sorry to, you wouldn't have said what you did if I hadn't started the argument in the first place. It is not like you are used to dealing with the opposite sex in a non business setting, I should've cut you some slack." A blush spread across Rebecca's face, much to her irritation. She found it just as embarrassing as Kaiba to apologize to someone, because it meant admitting that you were wrong.

Kaiba stepped into the room, and stared at Tea, an unreadable expression on his face. Tea looked back up at him sheepishly, biting her lower lip.

"_Gardner, look, I'm sorry all right. Let's just put this whole stupid thing behind us and move forward._" Kaiba said, extending his hand out. "_At least let me show you what our date would've been like._"

Tea looked to the side. "_It's not that easy._"

"_Yes, it is. Look what I said was stupid, but I'm not the only person at fault here. But I'm here and willing to put in the effort to make this thing work. And unless you weren't serious to begin with, unless this was all some big joke to you, then you should be too. Look, Sarah and Mike Campbell were married for um, thirty years? Anyway, it was a long time, and they were probably married longer than that, I wouldn't know, but the point is they were willing to fight for their relationship. Even when they argued, they were willing to put in the hard work to forgive the other person and rebuild their passion for each other. Nothing in life is easy, nothing good can come from lack of effort, but if you are willing to fight for me, than I promise to fight for you too._" Kaiba said thrusting his hand out, Tea sighed and put her hand in his.

"_I just have one question for you, who the heck is Sarah and Mike Campbell?_"

"_Of Campbell Industries, their company makes the adhesive that holds together the little toy wheels used in some of my merchandise._"

Tea arched an eyebrow. "There is actually a company that makes glue for little toy car wheels?"

"_Well, it's not only used for my products, other companies use the stuff for other things, you know. That is just the extent of the contract I have with them._ _You didn't think the little wheels were just made like that did you? Because I don't just use plastic, my products have rubber on the wheels, like a real car. My cars are second only to those bastards at Tonka_."

"I guess. It's just, I keep forgetting you sell more than just duel monsters stuff"

"_I wouldn't be the number one toy and gaming company in Japan, and number 3 in the world if I didn't sell products besides just Duel Monsters merchandise. Heck, I have to pay Pegasus just to use the brand name Duel Monsters, other wise I would be selling Collectible Trading Card Merchandise._"

"_How Romantic_…" Serenity quipped. Tea froze for second, in shock. Not so much at Serenity words but at the fact the Kaiba had turned an apology into bragging about his company without her even realizing how far the subject had changed.

Mai tottered out of the room, pushing her sleeves up sloppily. She headed towards the kitchen, where she was confident Joey would be. Sure enough, he was rooting through the refrigerator, having consumed all of the food at the breakfast table.

"Joey Wheeler we need to talk because you keep pushing back our wedding!" Mai shouted at the top her lungs, her face red. Joey whirled around, an uncooked hot dog dangling from his mouth. Mai suddenly toppled over, spilling the bottom of wine she had brought with her all over the floor. Joey rushed to her side and helped her sit up. Mai sat with her legs folded underneath, her clothes rumpled and her hair all out of place, a pout fixed her on her face. "I love you…" She whined.

"_I know_." Joey reassured, rubbing circles on her back. "_C'mon lets go get you fixed up and sober_." Joey said, quickly shoving the hot dog down his throat, and then scooping Mai up in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and Joey placed his arms underneath her legs, her legs draped over his arms. A shoe fell, and Joey squatted down and grabbed it, placing underneath his knees.

"Don't, don't drop me." Mai mumbled.

"_I won't, I promise._" Joey reassured, carrying Mai back down the hallway and into the room they had slept in the previous night.

Meanwhile, Kaiba led Tea, into one of a handful of laboratories he had in mansion. In the center of the room were two huge pods with all kinds of different colored wires connected to them. There were also several different machines that ran the length of the entire room, each one whirring and buzzing, and a multitude of different lights streaming across their fronts. The flooring was a light blue shiny tile, that made the whole room smell of various cleaners and antiseptics.

"_This is what you wanted to show me on our date_?" Tea inquired.

"_No this is just a prototype; the real thing is much less obtrusive._ _Its part of an interactive, dating simulator game thing the planetarium is offering. It's an attempt to up the sexiness of the planetarium, which has the potential to bring in a lot more customers. Depending on how it works out, I plan on selling home versions of these babies, and expanding its marketability._ _Beautiful, Isn't it?_"

"_I guess._" Tea shrugged.

"_Just wait until you see it in action before you pass judgment on it._" Kaiba replied, turning towards the machine and hitting buttons and flipping switches that were incomprehensible to Tea. Soon, on a screen above one of the machines, a command prompt popped up. Kaiba began typing furiously, and soon after that a loading message popped onto the screen. Tea yawned, and looked around, holding her arm with her good hand. Soon a black screen popped up with little white dots.

"_Are those supposed to be stars or something?_" Tea asked. Kaiba shushed her and enter in a few more commands, before finally pulling down on a huge gray lever, causing the glass doors of the pods to rise up vertically into the air, streams of color dancing across them. The pods lit up, and Kaiba pushed a button. Tea yelped as a panel next to her opened up and two small robots came scooting out of them. There body supported by four tiny little wheels, there tiny white bodies were shiny and they little green rings for eyes, which were lit up behind a thick piece of black plastic. There hands were what truly surprised her, although they were white and clearly made of plastic, they had five digits. Suddenly they began spinning around and their base extended, making them just as tall as she was.

"_Okay, I'm officially freaked out now!_" Tea backed up from the robots, and let out as small yelp as they scooted over to the pods. Kaiba cast a bemused look in her direction, before opening up a panel on their heads and pushing a few more buttons.

"_Alright, all set and ready to go_." He announced.

"_Am I really the only one freaking out here?_"

"_Gardner, those things are old news, I've already invented ones that hover, however the battery required for hovering takes away from the massive amounts of energy used to make those little hands work, which is why we're using these ones. But don't worry, they are perfectly safe._"

Tea cast them a wary look before scooting towards the door. Kaiba rolled his eyes, and scooped her into his arms.

"_Don't worry, I'll protect you._" He whispered, before setting her into the pod.

"_I don't need your protection, those things are just creepy, and that's all._" Tea defended herself. Kaiba shook his head in obvious amusement, and set her down gently in the pod. He grabbed a bunch of wires down from a panel at her side, and lifted her up her shirt. Carefully placing a suction cup on her stomach, whilst carefully respecting her privacy and not rolling up the shirt to high. Unbuttoning the top two buttons of her shirt, He also slid on onto to her heart, afterwards buttoning one of the buttons up again. Tea stared up at him, watching as he delicately connected the wires to her body, carefully placing lights amount of pressure on each pad, as though he thought she was a precious china doll that might break if it was too rough. Finally he pulled a small helmet over head, which had a rose tinted visor that allowed her to see him. Kaiba smiled at her gently, before pushing a small button. This caused the helmet to adjust slightly, so that it was tighter on her head and wouldn't fall off.

"_I'll be right here, don't worry_." Kaiba whispered in her ear before pulling away and shutting the pod.

"_Kaiba…_" Tea tried to call out, before a pleasant smelling pink mist came out of a tube next to her head. Within seconds, she was asleep. Kaiba flipped a switch, and the machine began uploading Tea's memories and brain into its system, transferring her to a virtual world, though she wasn't yet aware of it. Kaiba entered in a little more data, so that she would be dressed in the correct attire for their "date." And then he hopped into one of the pods, unbuttoning his shirt, and slapping the suction cups on himself and pulling the helmet onto his head. Grabbing an extra wire to give him complete control of the program that he hadn't put on Tea, he stuck it onto his arm, and then pushed a button next to him. The pod shut itself and locked down, a gust of steam rushing out of it, giving the air an unpleasant smell. Soon enough though, the smell was gone as it was replaced with the rose scented smell of the pink anesthesia, he was carried off into virtual reality.

Tea blinked for a couple of moments, staring at the cream colored walls that surrounded her. There was small, oak door to one corner, and a few plotted plants in the corners. She was sitting in a plump, black massage chair. Other, less fancy, blue chairs lined the walls. Pictures of boats with captions like perseverance, and motivation were hung along the wall, along side black and white photographs of people who seemed important, but she didn't recognize them.

"I must be in some kind of waiting room." Tea surmised. Seeing a floor length mirror to her left, she walked to it to fix her hair, what she saw shocked her. She was already dressed in a beautiful white gown. There was a diamond waterfall bracelet that had little strands of silver entwined in it and flowed all the way down to the top of her shoulders, without it actually covering up her shoulders. The gown itself was sleeveless and backless; the top half of the dress was beaded to match the necklace. It tapered at her waist, and then flowed out at her hips, giving her the illusion of an hourglass figure. Beading at the bottom of the dress also matched the necklace and was made to extend upward toward her knees (stopping halfway) and intertwined together in a complex pattern she didn't recognize. She also had on a thin, diamond bracelet and sandal stilettos that were clear with a smattering of diamonds across the three thin bands that went across the top of her foot and the diamonds on the strap that wrapped around her leg just above her ankle. Her hair had a simple diamond pin in it, but was a little shorter, looking much the same, only some how shinier and silkier.

Hearing a tap at the door, she turned around and saw Kaiba, dressed to kill in a white tuxedo with a light blue shirt, and gold cufflinks on the sleeve.

"Ready?" Kaiba asked, leaning against the door frame.

"Kaiba, this dress is so beautiful." Tea said turning her head away from him to admire herself, knowing that virtual reality was the only she could see herself ever being able to wear a dress like that. She drank in her own image, not wanting to forget a single detail.

"If you think that's breath taking maybe, you should step outside." Kaiba replied, extending his hand for her to take. She nodded, glancing one more time at herself and the gorgeous dress, before linking arms with Kaiba. They walked into a empty hall way where the only thing to be seen besides white walls and carpet was a silver hook with a silk, light blue blindfold on it.

"Amazing…" Tea remarked sarcastically. Kaiba rolled his eyes and grabbed the silk tie off the hook, and blindfolded Tea.

"Is all this really necessary?" She asked, feeling just a tad bit annoyed he was being secretive.

"Yes." Kaiba replied, leading her into another room. Kaiba smirked, taking in the sight around him, before removing the blindfold.

"_Amazing_" (1) Tea gasped. She was standing inside some kind of glass cube, which hovered just above the Earth. Underneath her feet, she could see the whole world, shining like a brilliant blue marble beneath her. All around her there were stars, twinkling brightly, stuck in the infinite blackness that seemed to completely engulf them both. She looked at the moon, which seemed bigger and brighter than ever before. It almost felt like she could touch it. In the center of the glass cube there was a small table, eloquently set up for two, complete with a candle lit centerpiece, where red roses hugged against the base of the lit candle. From out of a door, suddenly a man walked out, carrying an instrument, and another man, dressed as a waiter with a small black bowtie tied around his neck, came up to them.

"Right this way sir." The man requested, gesturing with his hand. "Here we are, Mademoiselle." The man said, pulling out her chair for Tea. Tea sat down, and the man seated Kaiba as well.

"Would you like some wine?" The man asked. Kaiba nodded.

"We'd like the Montrachet 1978 from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti." Kaiba ordered.

"Excellent choice…sir." the butler answered, producing a bottle of wine and two wine glasses from behind his back. He set the wine glasses down on the table, and then poured the wine into both glasses. "Are you ready to order?"

"No." Kaiba responded. The butler walked out of the room. Tea eyed the glass suspiciously.

"Is that really going to have a taste to it?" She questioned. Kaiba nodded, taking a sip of his own wine.

"Yes, this bottle was actually had already been drunk, right here in America, back in 2001. But, thanks to this technology, the program can trick your brain into thinking your actually drinking it. It taste like it tasted to them, without the satisfaction of victory of course, and was actually the most expensive, oldest drinkable bottle of wine."

"So what food do you have programmed in here."

"Anything you want, I'm having beef with foie grass sauce and potatoes, maybe a little creamed spinach as well."

"Will we be full in the real world?"

"Yes, and No: You will think you are fool for about an hour or so, but this can't replace eating real food or the nutrients real food provides, however I have been thinking about marketing a portable version of this in the form of a helmet and gloves. That way people can get the taste they love, while eating yogurt or salad, and so on; it all depends on how the initial testing goes over in R&D."

"R&D…?"

"It stands for Research and Development."

"I see." Tea said, turning her attention back to the stars and taking in the soft, ambient music coming from the violinist.

"I know what I'm ordering now." Tea finally announced, after giving it some thought. The butler suddenly came walking out of the door, and stood next to Tea.

"Are you ready to order?" He asked again.

"Yes, I'll have some Kobe beef and fried rice cooked on a hibachi grill? Oh and I also want some Ramen noodles with beef and vegetables!"

"And I'll have beef with foie gras sauce, and potatoes, and creamed spinach in a separate little bowl."

The food materialized in front of them, and Tea squealed in delight. "Oh, this all looks so good." The rest of the meal proceeded in a comfortable silence, after dinner Kaiba stood up and stretched out.

"Okay, let's head back to Earth, to Domino Park." Kaiba said nodding. "I want to see some cherry blossom trees." Tea nodded her consent and soon the scenery disappeared and they were in Domino Park, in the early Fall the Cherry Blossom trees were still in full bloom but a few cherry blossoms fell lose and wafted in the air, releasing a pleasant scent. The park smelled wonderful, and looked cleaner and more beautiful than she had ever actually seen it, since Kaiba had removed all the trash from the areas. Kaiba walked to the bridge, where the small river that ran underneath it babbled quietly, and where he had a perfect view of the sun setting in the sky, painting the sky in beautiful shades on orange and yellows. Leaning against the rail, Kaiba stared out into the horizon.

"I miss these little moments." Tea said, staring at her surroundings. "New York is just so fast, you know, you miss out on little moments like these."

"I wouldn't know; life has always been fast for me. I do miss Domino though, it was much quieter. I even miss those stupid workouts in the morning that all the employees do together, even me and Mokuba join in occasionally." Kaiba said thoughtfully.

"Are you ever going back?" She asked. Mokuba had once told her he had dual citizenship in American and Japan, as did she, so she could stay as long as she wanted. But she wasn't sure if Kaiba was in the US using a visa, or if he was a dual citizen as well.

"I kind of have to, my visa will expire in a few months." Kaiba responded, answering her silent question. "Mokuba is lucky he doesn't have to go through all the stupid paperwork I do to come to America. Not that I would trade my home in Japan for any other country in the world."

"If you go back to Japan in a few months, how will we maintain a relation…?" Tea began, but Kaiba placed a finger on her mouth and shook his head.

"I don't want to worry about that now, I'll figure something out, and we'll cross that hurdle when it comes, for now, lets just enjoy the cherry blossoms." Tea nodded and Kaiba turned his gaze back on the horizon.

"So how does it feel to be dancing on Broadway?" He asked. "Hasn't it always been your dream?"

"It's not everything I thought it would be, but it's also so much more than I thought it would be, if that makes any sense."

"In other words it is both the most challenging and rewarding thing you have ever done, it is running you crazy and satisfying you all at the same time." Kaiba stated, closing his eyes. "I feel the same way about Kaiba Corp, though the newness of it has definitely worn off."

"Something like that yeah, but it is still all so new to me, and I know I still have a long way to go before I'm headlining anything." Tea replied.

"You'll make it, I believe in you."

"Do you really think so…?"

"Gardner, I demand excellence, no perfection, in everything that I do. I won't settle for less than the best, so why would I suddenly choose to date a woman who was anything less than up to my standards." Kaiba questioned. Tea stared at Kaiba in open shock, she hadn't really thought about it that way before.

"Kaiba…thank you." She said, leaning against the rail of the bridge, next to him.

"It's the truth."

Tea gazed up into the sky and watched as the sun finally set into the sky.

"Well, its getting late, I'm sure the others are beginning to wonder about what happened to us." Kaiba said, checking his watch.

"I don't want this moment to end." Tea whispered. Kaiba smiled and grabbed her hand.

"I don't either, but we can come back here anytime we want."

"You can maybe, but I don't know how to operate these machines and…" Tea protested. Kaiba shook his head.

"No, you don't need to, because it will always be right here." Kaiba said, pointing towards his heart. Tea stared into Kaiba's eyes surprised, her gaze transfixed by something in his eyes, a tenderness, that she had never seen before.

"Kaiba…" Tea said, closing her eyes, and leaning forward, kissing him on his cheek. She started to pull away, wanting more, but deciding to respect his feelings about intimacy, before she was spun back around, and Kaiba captured her mouth. Tea quickly deepened the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and running her fingers through his hair, as Kaiba wrapped his arms around her waist instinctively and pulled her closer to him. As the two kissed, the moon finished its ascent into the sky and the night sky enveloping the 'earth' like a blanket. And for the first time in Kaiba's life, he felt complete.


	13. caught

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or the idea behind the Pachelbel Rant, for some reason though I thought it something Kaiba would've heard of and noticed himself; also don't own We're not going to take it by Twisted Sister, Get Low by Lil Jon and the Eastside Boys, or Bubbly by Colbie Caillat

_Japanese_  
English

* * *

Laura Welsh wasn't the kind of person who believed in destiny. Or rather, she refused to believe in it because of the implications it would have on her life. See if there was such a thing as destiny, which there wasn't, then that would mean that fate wanted her to be its bitch. Sure she was skinny and didn't have to work out to be skinny, but people always accused of her being an anorexic because she was gangly and awkward. And sure she had long, blonde hair but it was stringy and limp. And sure she was blessed with perfect vision, but her light blue eyes were so light they looked eerie and down right possessed. And her creamy alabaster skin was littered with freckles, and not the cute smattering of freckles that little kids had on television, no these ones were all over the place, and the size of saucers. She also refused to believe that she was an orphan because fate wanted her parents dead. Nor could she believe that fate liked putting her in the most embarrassing situations in the world, like slipping on a skate board and landing face down in a trash can unable to get out, her legs trashing about wildly in the air, her skirt revealing her ugly, pink heart cotton underwear to the world. No, Laura Welsh did not believe in fate, but as Seto Kaiba could've told her, fate didn't give a shit what you believed. 

That morning when she stepped out of the shower to answer her pink cell phone, she slipped on a bar of soap and tumbled out her first floor window into a nearby bush, her towel dangling out of the window, and flapping in the wind as if taunting her. Frowning, she attempted to sit up, but only ended shifting the branches out more, causing her to sink further in but thankfully out of sight of everyone around. Blowing a lock of hair out of her face, she sat up on her knees, listening for any noise so she could dash back through her window before anyone called the police on her for indecent exposure. She gave a wry smile upon seeing her cell phone lying on the ground. 

"If only you were a towel." She muttered under her breath, picking it up. Great, whoever it was had hung up and the number was blocked. "I hope it wasn't Star Universe…" She worried under her breath, she'd been trying to break into journalism for years, and while the gossip rag wasn't exactly the most credible magazine in the world, it was a job. One she desperately needed if she didn't want to be evicted. Hearing no one, she moved to get out of the bush when she heard her neighbor's car pull into the drive away. Letting out a small yelp, she hid back in the bush waiting for Tea Gardner to go inside her house.

"I'm really glad your brother is okay, thanks for the ride." She heard her neighbor's voice say.

"It was my pleasure." A male voice called back to her. Laura raised an eyebrow; she could've sworn that she recognized that voice. 

"Of course she just has to be dating my friends now…." Laura mumbled under her breath. It wasn't that she disliked Tea, it was just that the girl had everything and while she wasn't usually the jealous type it was hard not being jealous of Tea Gardner's grace and eloquence; especially when you were the kind of klutz who fell out of windows naked after tripping on soap because you couldn't even answer a phone right. Wondering who it was she knew that the girl was now dating; she pulled back the leaves to get a better look. What she saw shocked her, there was Mokuba Kaiba walking her to her door. There was Mokuba Kaiba kissing her on the stoop of her porch. Grabbing her camera phone she recorded their intimate moment, taking several pictures and even a video clip. Tea went in the house, and Mokuba Kaiba's car sped off down the road. Quickly, she jumped out of the bush, not bothering to look out at the sidewalk.

"Laura, Laura Welsh?" A man called out to her, stopping in his tracks and pulling a pair of blue headphones out of his ears. 

"B-Brad?" She questioned her mouth opening several times like a fish. "What are you doing here?"

"I just bought a house across the street, from some old guy." 

"Old man Grundy?" 

"Yeah that's the guy." 

"That's great, I'm really glad he's gone that old guy was a pervert." She hissed, completely forgetting about her lack of clothes, as thoughts of the old guy peeping in her window crossed her mind. "He used to peep into my window with a freaking telescope."

"Yeah, well who could blame him? You've done pretty well for yourself." Brad said, giving her an appreciative look over. 

"Oh, Oh my goodness, I'm still naked aren't I?" She screamed, covering herself and running into the house. She popped her head back out of the door for a second. "Stay right there, just five seconds." Brad laughed and nodded. And Laura ran back up the staircase, throwing on her underwear, a pair of jeans and a sweater. Running back down the stairs, she flung the door open. 

"Sorry, didn't want you to think I was a freak who just walks around outside without underwear." Laura laughed, snorting a couple of times. Inwardly she cringed, could she be anymore of a dork? 

"Mind if I ask what you were doing out there anyway, and why it seemed like you were spying on your neighbor?" He asked.

"You saw that?" She asked sheepishly.

"Well bushes usually don't have pink cell phones sticking out of them, or arms for branches, so I would say that's a yes." He smirked, revealing his perfect white teeth. His jade eyes twinkled in amusement, as he ran a hand through his neatly groomed brown hair. Laura began laughing nervously, once again snorting. 

"Sorry." She apologized, this time visibly cringing. "Well you are never going to believe this but our neighbor, Tea Gardner is dating Mokuba Kaiba!" 

"What?" Brad replied stepping closer to her. "And you have proof."

"If I'm lying, I'm dying." She replied, showing him the phone. 

"You know, I'm the editor over at FYI magazine, if you want a job there, it's yours." He said, locking eyes with her. 

"Really…?" She asked eyes widening, FYI was a million times more credible than Star Universe. FYI actually made sure to check its facts before publishing a story. 

"Of course, I need someone with guts like yours, someone who never rests and is always looking for their next story. Of course, you will have to wear clothes when you start next week." 

"Of course, sir, anything you say sir. Um, but why next week…?" 

"Well, I don't want to take you out to dinner as your boss." Brad replied. "Saturday, seven pm…?" 

Laura nodded dumbly, rendered utterly speechless. For the first time in her life things were starting to look up. 

"See you then." Brad said putting his ear buds back in his ear and waving bye to her, before he jogged off down the road. Laura walked stiffly in to her house, and closed the door behind her, before falling to the ground on her knees. Maybe fate was finally choosing to smile on her? Hearing her fire alarm go off, she raced into the kitchen and saw she had forgot to turn her waffle iron off. Fanning out the smoke with a pillow, it got bigger and she grabbed her fire extinguisher. Unfortunately it didn't want to cooperate.

"Oh come on!" She yelled hitting it and pressing down on the button as hard as she could, causing foam to spread out everywhere, simultaneously putting out the fire and getting all over everything, including her. She blew out a sigh, a piece of foam falling off hair and onto the ground. It seemed fate had quite the sense of humor.

* * *

"Seto, what are you doing?" Mokuba asked, seeing a bunch of bags on the ground. 

"_Well, Valentine and the other dorks don't know when to make their exits, so I'm having Roland show them how._" Kaiba replied, not even looking up from the newspaper he was reading. Mokuba sighed.

"Seto, I told them to stay here." Mokuba said nonchalantly, kicking one of the bags because he was bored and it was in his way. 

"You did what?" Kaiba snapped, whirling around so he could glare at his brother.

"They were staying in a hotel."

"So?"

"So, why should they pay to stay in a hotel when they have a friend who lives in a mansion that will let them stay free of charge?"

"…Because it's not your house that's why! My name is on the deed, and I make the decisions around here!" 

"Either they stay here, or I leave with them Seto it's your call. And you know I'll do it to." Mokuba replied, glancing down at his nails. He'd had this same argument a million times with his brother, and he always won, he didn't understand why he wouldn't just give it up and realize that he was going to have friends over sometimes. It wasn't like he invited people over that often anyway.

"Fine…" Kaiba huffed, turning back to his newspaper. Last time he said no, Mokuba had left for a week. Popping in and out so he'd know he was safe, but threatening to make a spectacle (and dump the shares he owned of Kaiba Corp on Ohhira which would give the man the same amount of control over the company as he had) if he tried to forcibly bring him back home. It had been a big, ugly fiasco that the media had had a field day with, and there was no point in repeating it when he could keep a better eye on Mokuba when he was at home anyway. 

"Hey Roland you can stop now!" Mokuba called up the stairs. Roland came down the stairs, grabbed the bags and tossed them all over his shoulders. Noticing Mokuba's amazed stare, he shook his head and chuckled.

"I figured as much would happen, so I didn't actually pack any of them. Hell, all of these bags are his! I got them from the closet right there." Roland whispered; Mokuba chuckled under his breath, careful to hide the fact they were laughing at his brother behind his back lest they tick him off. There really was so much stuff in the mansion and so many rooms, that a person could probably get away with living there a couple of days and no one would notice besides the guards. In fact, several employees who had sold their homes or had cousins visiting did just that, and while Mokuba was aware because they wanted to tell somebody just in case they got caught, Kaiba was never the wiser.

* * *

"_Serenity, please come out of the closet_." Duke begged wearily, leaning against the closet door inside one of the guest rooms in the Kaiba mansion.

"_No_!" She shouted, tears streaming down her face.

"_Look, I'm sorry I killed him, but you got to believe me it was an accident._"

"_You're a liar_!" Serenity tried to hiss, but hiccups got in her way. "_You always hated him_!"

"_I didn't hate Leiko, he was mean and arrogant, but he had his moments._" 

"_I don't believe you!_" Serenity insisted again. "_If you can cheat on me, then you are certainly capable of killing Leiko_!" 

"_That again, it was three years ago. Move on and trust me or don't and end this charade so I can move on with my life_!" Duke shouted, throwing his arms in the air. Sure he loved Serenity but sometimes he just wanted to choke her. 

"_Its not that I don't trust you…_" 

"_Then why don't you believe me!_"

"_Because you wouldn't have lied about it, if it wasn't an accident_!"

"_Well, I knew you'd have this reaction, so I was scared. I was scared I would lose you._" 

"_You're just saying that to get out of trouble_." 

"_Oh for heaven's sakes.. Will you least come out so we can talk about it?_" Duke asked, rolling his eyes. Serenity came out the closet, sniffling a little.

"_Look, Serenity, I'm really sorry I ran him over, but you have to believe me when I say I lied about it because I was afraid I'd lose you. Besides, I loved that little cat, because he made you happy_." Duke said, taking his hands into hers.

"_Aww, that's the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard…_" Serenity said, tapping him on the cheek. "_Sorry, but you're going to have to do a lot better than that_."

"_Okay fine, the truth is I'm not sorry the mean little bastard is gone, but I am sorry I'm the one that took him out! I really, really am, I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing because I saw you bending over, doing your little workout through the window and I got distracted and killed the little fun sucker. Are you happy_?" 

"_No…_" 

"_See this is what happens when I tell the truth!_ _Some lies are better than the truth. Case and point, Tristan's sister was not pretty when she was pregnant, she looked like a cow, but I'd never tell anybody that. Instead, I'd say oh you're glowing._" Duke answered. 

"_That's awful!_"

"_This is why I wouldn't say it... Just like nobody wants to hear that you secretly had a celebration when their cat died._" 

Serenity pouted but sighed. "_I suppose I've faked a lot of things too…_" 

"_See…wait a minute what do you mean by that_? _Are you trying to say I'm bad in bed?_" 

"_Oh no, I would never say that._" Serenity smirked, sauntering off. 

"_Wait! You didn't answer my question, Serenity…Serenity!"  
_

* * *

Bakura sighed as the tossed his monster card into his graveyard. "You win again champ."

"Even I'm bored with this now…" Yugi complained, resting his cheek on his hand and blowing his bang out of his face.

"Well, at least you're speaking English now. I told you it would come back to you if you just used it."

"I'm so analog. (1)"

"Maybe not…"

"So, what can we do?" Yugi asked, glancing around his guest room in only mild interest. It was a standard guest with standard green carpet and standard green and white sheets, standard white curtains, standard everything. It wasn't very exciting for a mansion, although it did have a bigger television than the hotel.

"We can explore this old place…" Bakura suggested. Yugi shook his head.

"Kaiba would probably be so mad; he said we have to stay in this hallway, or in the kitchen or living room." 

"I guess your right; it is a bit a luck he's letting us stay here at all…" Bakura said, stretching out and yawning. Even though Bakura had done well for himself and could buy himself a pretty big house, he still wasn't as rich as Kaiba was and didn't intend on breaking anything either, which could very well happen if Joey and Tristan tagged along while they were exploring.

"_Who wants to go the mall_?" Serenity shouted, coming in and posing at the doorway of Yugi's room out of sheer boredom.

"I got to tell you Serenity that sounds just awful…" Bakura mumbled. 

"Well that's too bad then, because you're going." Serenity said crossing her arms across her chest, and glaring the way Mai had taught her how to.

"No thanks." Yugi agreed. 

"Get your asses in gear, NOW!" Serenity shouted at the top of her lungs, which nobody in the group realized how loud they could be. 

"Yes ma'am." Bakura said, jumping up from his seat. Yugi rushed downstairs as well, they never heard Serenity yell at them before and she only used English when she was getting especially aggravated, because most of the phrases Mai had taught her weren't exactly the nicest things to say.

Bakura came downstairs and saw Duke and Tristan already waiting, standing on the doormat and their shoes already on. 

"Is Rebecca coming?" He asked.

"_No, she went home. _Tristan answered. 

"_This sucks…"_ Duke added. 

"DEAL WITH IT!" Serenity shouted, putting on her shoes. 

"She has got to stop hanging around Mai…" Bakura said, "She is beginning to scare me just as much as Mai does." 

Duke nodded in agreement, as Serenity slipped on her heels. Duke cast her a nervous glance but figured Serenity really didn't understand most of what was said. Her English was the probably the most limited of the group, because she'd never been to America for tournaments the way Tristan, Joey and Yugi had. Nor did she have the international business contacts that he had. Mai, Bakura and Rebecca's native tongues were English. Serenity smiled up at Duke and then slapped him on the back of the head.

"Ow, hey what was that for!" Duke asked rubbing the back of his head.

"_I understood you, you know. Rebecca and Mai have been teaching me English._"

"Oh…"

"_Yeah, oh… You are cut off, for the record._" Serenity said, folding her arms across her chest and slinging her shiny yellow purse over her shoulder. Duke's face reddened and he cast Bakura a dirty look, who held up his hands defensively and mouthed a sorry. Duke growled muttering under his breath in the realization that people had been lapsing in to English a lot the past couple of nights due to the fact that Mokuba, Tea, Rebecca and Mai all kept speaking it, and Serenity hadn't batted so much as eyelash in confusion. There was a little slang spoken by Mokuba that she hadn't understood, but other than that she'd been just fine.

"Where are you guys going?" Mokuba asked, cutting them off for before they could fight.

"Speak of the devil…" Duke mumbled, obviously deep in his own thoughts. Mokuba raised an eyebrow before turning towards Yugi.

"So where are you guys going?" 

"The mall…" Yugi smiled. "Want to come with us?"

"Mokuba has homework." Kaiba answered for him, Mokuba glanced sheepishly back up at his brother.

"Aw, Seto can't I go, please?" Mokuba begged. Kaiba rolled his eyes and pointed towards the stairs. Mokuba growled but marched back up the stairs anyway, he had promised his brother he'd focus more on his studies; ever since his social life had been ruined by that idiot girl who refused to remember that he had never tried to rape her. 

"_Why don't you come with us_?" Serenity asked. Kaiba quirked up an eyebrow at the sheer audacity of the young redhead in front of him, he'd be madder at her but he was still trying to reconcile this image of her with the mouse he'd met at Battle City.

"_No."_ Kaiba flat out refused, spinning on his heels.

"_Tea we'll be there, probably._" Serenity cooed. Kaiba rolled his eyes.

"_I don't care; Gardner and I don't need to spend every waking moment together. I'm busy._" 

"_Well, take a break from all of that work, ever since Tea left you've been working non stop all day._" 

"_That's because I have a little thing called a job. Now if you excuse me._" 

"_Fine, I'll tell Tea that you're probably too busy to care about her. There are plenty of other men trying to get her attention; she's very popular you know. Heck, I'm sure your brother would be more than happy to pay attention to her, and he is busy too, you know. But even if you're busy, you make time for the people you care about._" 

"_What other men_?" Kaiba growled, not caring to hear yet another lecture about how he needed to make time for people he cared about. He'd heard the same thing from Mokuba for the past several years, but there was a reason people saw that it was lonely at the top. You really didn't have time to do a lot of things, and not everyone could handle it. Heck, the only reason Mokuba had so much free time on his hands was because Kaiba picked up Mokuba's slack, without ever saying so much as a word about it, to anyone. It was better he was the one being demonized anyway, Mokuba couldn't take it as well as he could, he was far too emotional for his own good. 

"_Trust me; there are a lot of men vying for Tea's attention._" Serenity said, studying her nails. "_But if you're really busy, I'll let her know…_" 

"_Fine, just let me get dressed._" Kaiba muttered, running up the stairs to change out of his work attire which he changed into despite the fact he never made it into the office, instead choosing to work in his home office. Within a few short minutes he changed into an all black ensemble, complete with sunshades and matching trench coat. Mokuba came down the stairs with him. 

"_Okay, let's go pick up Tea and head on out!"_ Serenity exclaimed. 

"_I'll go pickup Tea; you idiots go to the mall._" Kaiba said, taking out his boots from the resplendent golden shoe cubby next to the door. "_Mokuba come with me._" 

"_Whoa, hold on a minute there, you didn't even want to come with us and now you're giving out orders!_" Serenity shouted. Kaiba glared at her, and Serenity swallowed her protests in her throat, choosing to fold her arms and glare to the side. Duke looked from Kaiba to Serenity and back again. He didn't know how Kaiba got her to shut up when she'd been in a pissy mood all day with just one look but apparently he needed to study from Kaiba's playbook because there was something Kaiba instinctively knew about women that no one else in the group did. Not only did he earn forgiveness rather quickly from all the women in the group, while simultaneously making them take out their anger on them, but he got them to all to shut up and do what they were told as well.

"_Let's go Mokuba._" Kaiba said, tying his boots and standing to his full height. Just as Joey and Mai came down the stairs.

"_Can we take the Ferrari?_" Mokuba asked. Kaiba shrugged and pulled out a key ring, and opened up a small white plastic box on the wall, where at least 30 different car keys each with their own clip-on key chains hung from the wall. Joey, Tristan and Duke immediately crowded around Kaiba.

"_Tell me those aren't all cars_?" Joey salivated. Kaiba shot him a disgusted look.

"_Nope, two of them are to my helicopters, one to my jet, and the 6 on the bottom are for my various limousines_." Kaiba smugly replied. Joey reached out a hand to touch them, but Kaiba smacked his hand away. 

"_Down boy!_" Kaiba chided. Joey growled and lounged at Kaiba, but Tristan and Bakura stopped him just short of actually being to hit him. 

"_Can we borrow one of those; I'll pay for any damages that might occur._" Bakura offered. Truth be told, he missed his Lamborghini.

"_And how exactly would you do that, last I checked smiles and puppy chow don't pay bills._" Kaiba stated point blank. Bakura frowned, while Joey tried to attack Kaiba again.

"_For you information, I run a pretty successful hotel empire in Britain._"

"_Wait, What?_"

"_I own a successful hotel empire in Britain._"

"_How successful are we talking here, one, maybe two chains?_"

"_Well, only 5 right now, but I'm planning on expanding that to 10 by the end of the year. Our profits are through the roof, and I haven't had a quarter in the red since I first started._"

"_Really…How would you like to run 50 hotels for free?_" Kaiba asked, folding his arms across his chest. 

"_50 hotels…? How… what…?_" 

"_Well, you see Kaiba hotels haven't reeled in the profits I expected them too. The ones built near Kaiba Land amusement parks are pulling in much of the profits, and thus far are really only paying for themselves, with very little profit coming back in to my company._ _So, I'm looking for someone to take over that department for me right now, because I have bigger things to worry about. Of course, you would still be reporting to me, and I would expect you to sell me your hotels at a reasonable price and rename them, but I imagine it would still be a lot more money than you're making now._" Kaiba replied, leaning against the wall. Mokuba rolled his eyes. Did everything always have to be about business? He wanted to just go to the mall without stopping to talk shop like a normal person.

"_You want me to sell you my hotels._" Bakura repeated.

"_Well, I would have to actually stay the night in one first. And I would need to draw up a proposal and look into your finances. But yes, and you'd be able to do what you want with them, they'll be owned by me technically, and I will expect status reports. But you'll pretty much have free reign on them. I only went into the business because it was a natural extension of Kaiba Land, not because it was something I have any interest in whatsoever._"

Bakura stared at Kaiba in shock, before grabbing his hand and shaking it enthusiastically. 

"_You got yourself a deal!_" 

"_Not yet we don't. I expect a full status report on my desk in three weeks. I want to look at all your company's finances and I want employee histories as well._" Kaiba said, taking his hand away and pulling out his business card out of a gold case eloquently inscribed with his name and company. Pinching both ends of the card between the tips of fingers, he dipped his head slightly. Bakura grabbed the ends of the card and bowed far more deeply and enthusiastically then Kaiba had, doing it three times for good measure. This was his dream come true, and he'd actually live long enough to enjoy it. He'd gone into the hotel business to provide people the most comforting home away from home he could. He knew all to well how lonely it could be living in a dingy apartment, or staying in cold, impersonal hotels whose lifeless walls added to your misery, making you feel as if no one could really love you, even if they said they did. So he strived to make his hotels feel welcoming, with plenty of activities, daring color schemes, plants, animals people could rent for the day, photo booths, an escort service (though none of these men and women every slept with their clients, nor did they wear stripper's clothing, no these were more like rent a friends (which is what they were called), just someone to spend a day with some of the elderly clients.) Anything and everything he could think of to make the time go by. He wanted to bring as much joy into as many people's lives as he possibly could and did not care if the hotel was named "Bakura's" or "Hotel Kaiba", it was the people whose lives he touched that counted.

Kaiba shifted his weight slightly on his heels, a little uncomfortable with the grateful stare that Bakura was giving him; the man looked like he was on the verge of crying he was so grateful.

"_Yes, well, don't think its going to be easy, I demand hard work and determination from all of employees._"

"_Oh of course anything you say, Kaiba you don't know how much this means to me! Thank you!_" Bakura said, before tearing up and hugging him. Kaiba tensed up, and realized Bakura was actually crying.

"_I should warn you, I'm don't like it when people touch me._" Kaiba stated, trying to keep how uncomfortable Bakura was making him out of his voice. Bakura pulled away and wiped his eyes. 

"_I'm sorry; it's just when I think about how unhappy I used to be, after my sister died, before I met you guys, I just…_" Bakura took a shaky breath. "_You guys turned my ugly little apartment into a home; you were so kind to me, even though the spirit of the ring was so cruel to you. You made me feel welcome. And when I built my hotels, I tried to bring that spirit into them, and to be able to give that feeling back to the world, to make someone's life just a little less miserable, I just…_" Bakura sucked in another breath, trying to calm himself down. 

Serenity smiled, and squeezed Bakura shoulders. Joey placed an arm around his shoulders as well, while Tristan, Duke and Yugi gave him reassuring smiles. 

"_There's no need to cry Bakura, that's what friends are for._" Yugi said crossing over to stand in front of Bakura, and placing his hands on his shoulders. 

"_Oh for goodness sakes does everything have to be a made for TV special with you people? It's a business deal for crying out loud!_" Kaiba shouted, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation. 

"_Shut your mouth Kaiba, it isn't like that at all. We're friends and we stick together no matter what, something you'd know something about if you ever had any._" Joey accused. Kaiba glared at Joey.

"_I don't need nor want friends._" 

"_Will you two cool it with that same argument already?_" Mokuba shouted, about ready to pull his hair out of his head. "_It's been like this for years and years look Joey, my brother doesn't want friends. He wants family. Either way he'll have a support group and love, so just accept the fact that he doesn't want to be friends with you guys and hop off his dick!_" 

Everyone stared at Mokuba in stunned silence. Before Kaiba smirked at Joey and put an arm around his brother. "_As you can see, I already have all that I need, so stop begging for scraps and get out of my house with your tail tucked between your legs like dog he's turned you into._" Kaiba haughtily interjected. Joey was seeing red and madder at Kaiba than he'd been in a long time, but instead of lounging at Kaiba like he usually did, he simply turned around and began to walk off in a huff. 

Tristan scratched his head in confusion before he heard a guttural yell and saw Joey flying through the air, tackling Kaiba into the door. Kaiba grunted in pain, but when Joey raised his fist to punch him, Kaiba elbowed him in the stomach and then kicked him off and away from him. Joey growled and lounged for Kaiba again, but this time Tristan caught him. 

"_Bad dog_!" Kaiba taunted, causing Joey to reach out for Kaiba's throat with all his might. Tristan sighed and grabbed Joey's arms and twisted behind his back, grabbing his hand and squeezing down onto a pressure point before anyone knew what was happening. Kaiba blinked and looked up Tristan where he was still on the ground, before getting up and dusting himself off.

"_Tch, whatever I'm out of here_." Kaiba muttered, walking out the house. Mokuba grabbed a pair of car keys out of the box, before locking the box and tossing them carelessly behind him. Mai snatched them from the air, before anyone else could and then helped Joey off the ground. Joey glared at Tristan, dusting his pants off.

"_Why do you always stop me, he's getting what deserves."_ Joey complained.

"_Because you'd be the one going to jail if it went any further, and the judge doesn't care that he hurt your feelings Joey. Besides, you've already went to jail twice for fighting and with the new repeat offender laws, and with Kaiba being as rich and famous as he is, you'd be in there for awhile, and I'm not going to let you do that over Kaiba. He's not worth it_." Tristan sighed, pinching his nose in irritation. He didn't know why he'd had to explain it so many times, people like them couldn't fight with people like Kaiba, the court systems were just too unequal and he had and Joey both had troubled pasts. Not that would get them any sympathy, because Kaiba had a troubled past to, but he didn't have a record. 

"_I just want to hit that rich boy just once in his mouth, just once, he talks too much…If this was Fifth Street, I'd show him a thing or two."_Joey grumbled to himself.

"Well, anyway, let's go to the mall. I'm driving!" Mai exclaimed, dangling the keys. She was too used to Joey's antics by now to be phased by them. 

"_No_!" Everyone shouted at once, Mai pouted as Serenity took the keys from her. 

"_I'm driving, I got the keys first!_" Serenity shouted, bouncing up and down gleefully. 

"_Aw come on sis, let me drive!_" Joey begged, Serenity bit her lip, and Joey dropped to one knee closing his eyes and clasping his hands together. Serenity sighed and gave in, handing the keys to Joey.

"_All right!_" Joey gleefully shouted, pumping his fist in the air. "_Let's get going!_" 

"_I call shotgun!_" Tristan yelled, placing an arm around Joey as they did their victory dance all the way to the car. The rest of the group laughed behind them.

* * *

"Are you okay?" Tea asked, standing in the doorway of her neighbor's apartment. "I saw smoke; do you need me to call the fire department?" 

"Oh, I'm fine just burnt my waffles." Laura said shaking her head. 

"Oh, well then do you want to have some breakfast with me?" Tea asked. Laura shifted in her seat.

"I-I can't have breakfast with you!" Laura shouted horrified. Tea raised an eyebrow at the girls over the top response.

"Why not?"

"I-I have to um, water my epidermis!" Laura explained. Tea gave her another look that clearly showed how much of freak she thought the other girl was acting like. 

"Water your skin? Look, you don't have to make up excuses if you don't like me. But don't sit there and lie to my face. I was just trying to be nice to you, trying to lend you a hand, trying to be a good neighbor, and a good friend, something you clearly don't know how to be. And do you know why? Because friendship and decency are important to me, and they should be important to you too…I used to think that maybe you were so klutzy and lonely because you didn't know how to act around other people and no one had given you a chance, but now I see its because you don't know how to be a friend. So you know what, I don't feel sorry for you anymore. Because you've been locked away in your house so long you've forgotten what being human is all about. You are cold and mean and nasty and a bad liar and its no wonder you don't have any friends! Friendship is the most important thing in this world. Without friendship the only things you have is machinery and war! Without friendship…"

"Fine I'll eat some cereal at your house if you promise to shut up!" Laura yelled, covering Tea's mouth with her hand. Tea glared at her, and forced a smile on her face. 

"That's better, now come on!" She exclaimed, grabbing the girls hand and dragging her off. Laura quickly locked her door and the two girls went to Tea's house. 

"I have to go to the bathroom." Laura stated. Tea smiled, as she headed towards the kitchen, Laura in tow.

"It is just up those stairs." Tea replied. Laura nodded and raced up the stairs, while Tea went to the pan and began cutting some red peppers. Suddenly, she heard the song 'These Words' by Natasha Bedingfield, arching an eyebrow she walked over to the pink cell phone vibrating on her kitchen table. Seeing whoever it was had hung up, she picked up the phone, and saw herself kissing Mokuba as the screensaver. '

"_What in the world…_" Tea mumbled to herself, before walking over to her sink angrily and dropping it into the garbage disposal. Flipping it on, she placed her hand on the counter and punched it. "Ow, Ow, ow" She yelped, shaking her hand, and turned of the disposal, grabbing out the little broken pieces of shiny, pink plastic. Laura came back down the stairs, and she plastered her best fake apologetic smile on her face and walked over to the girl.

"Laura I am so sorry, your phone rang when you were in the bathroom and I was going to take a message but then I hurt myself and dropped your phone in the garbage disposal, again, I am so, so sorry." Tea said, dropping the broken pieces of shattered dreams into Laura's hands. Laura began hyperventilating for a second, and then rushed out the door crying. "Laura wait, don't you want your breakfast? I'm said sorry, well bye!" Tea called out, but the blond didn't even look back at her, instead running into her house. Tea watched her go inside her house.

"Bye bitch, don't let the door hit you on the way out." Tea smirked, kicking her door closed behind her, before blowing a bang out of her face. That had been a little too close for her comfort; it was sheer luck that the she'd seen the smoke from the girl's kitchen out of her own window. And while she was a little smug that she'd stopped her from being able to leak photos to the media, it was only a matter of time before someone snapped her and Mokuba together, they hadn't been careful enough, and Kaiba would see those photos and blow a gasket. 

Hearing a knock on her door, she rolled her eyes and opened it to see Kaiba and Mokuba standing her door way. Kaiba leaned against the side rail of the porch, with a hand causally in his pocket and a smirk on his face, and Mokuba was beaming at her. 

"Hey, what are you two doing here, together?" Tea asked, forcing a smile on her face. She knew they couldn't see the pictures, but she still felt a more than a little guilty.

"Hot Springs." was Kaiba's baffling, stoic, and simple reply.

"They don't have public bath houses in New York…" Tea said, utterly baffled.

"Well, New York doesn't, but we have an artificial one, and since your friends are away at the mall, we figured we could steal you for a little while." Mokuba answered.

"I was supposed to go to the mall with them!" Tea protested.

"So." Kaiba shrugged. 

"So? So, I can't just ditch them."

"They think Mokuba and I are joining there little escapade. And since I'm quite sure together they can muster up a brain cell, they'll figure out where we disappeared too." 

"Let me go get my robe."

"You don't have to wear one if you don't want too, I'm sure the room is going to be…steamy." Mokuba cheekily said. Kaiba smacked him on the back of the head, and Tea blushed before running up the stairs to get her robe.

"What was that for?" Mokuba complained.

"What was what for?" Kaiba answered mock innocently. "Oh, do you mean this?" Kaiba asked smacking Mokuba again. Mokuba punched Kaiba in the arm, as the two made their way into Tea's house and shut the door.

"You started it you know." Kaiba complained rubbing his shoulder.

"You're the one who hit me."

"I wouldn't have had to hit you if you weren't hitting on my girlfriend." 

"Well, you should have uglier girlfriends, and then these kinds of things wouldn't happen. I can't turn the game off, and make all these good looks disappear, I mean look at me Seto. I'm smart, I'm charming, I'm damn good looking, I can't just turn this game off, cause I am the game!" Mokuba said, popping his collar. Kaiba smacked him again.

"If you're the game, then the game must be solitaire, I mean you sure do play by yourself a lot right?" Kaiba taunted. Mokuba punched Kaiba in the side, and then in the arm and Kaiba laughed and pushed Mokuba, who stumbled over couch and fell to the ground. Kaiba laughed again, and Mokuba pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. A light, airy laugh came from the staircase as Tea walked down the stairs.

"How do I look?" She asked, twirling around and showing off light yellow tank top and her yellow mini skirt, which showed off her long dancers legs. She had her robe tossed over shoulder.

"Like the crème de la crème of models can eat their avaricious hearts out!" declared Kaiba.

"Not only that but your hot!" Mokuba agreed, causing Kaiba to elbow him in the side. Mokuba winced and shot Kaiba a glare from behind. 

Tea smirked and put on a pair of sunshades. "Let's go!" 

Kaiba smirked and walked over to her, and scooped her into his arms. "I concur." He added simply, carrying her into the car. Mokuba paused and grabbed Tea's sandals from the cubby next to her door, muttering obscenities under his breath. He'd had not expected his brother to be in such a good mood. He expected him to play around for about five minutes, soak for a little while to release the tension in his muscles, and then be on his way, holed up in his office working on the perpetual paper work that was Kaiba Corp. Then he'd get some alone time with Tea. He'd also had hoped that by being more vocal about his feelings, but making them seem in jest, his brother would slow down his relationship, that way when he broke the two up it wouldn't hurt him as much. But no, now that Kaiba trusted Tea he was beginning to feel more and more comfortable around her, and getting closer, and more possessive, by the day. He'd even already begun to call her his girlfriend, which was not a good sign. Getting in the back seat, he buckled his seat belt and plastered a fake smile on his face. Tea pulled down her shades and flashed Mokuba a look that clearly said they needed to talk.

"Hey Kaiba, why don't we stop and get some ice cream?" Tea asked. Kaiba shrugged his shoulders and stopped at the nearest convenience store. 

"What flavor do you want?"

"I don't know, but I'm really hungry so buy a lot of snacks." 

"What kinds of snacks do you want?"

"Just pick something, I'll eat whatever you buy, just no black licorice, I don't know how Americans eat that nasty stuff." Tea said waving Kaiba off. Kaiba arched an eyebrow and shot her a dirty look, he didn't like being told what to do, but went into the store anyway. 

"Mokuba, I'm really sorry you had to find out this way, but as you've probably already figured out, I'm dating your brother." Tea began, not able to look at Mokuba, staring down at her hands.

"I know."

"And I…wait, you know?" 

"I know. I've known for quite sometime now."

"You've known for quite sometime? But how is that possible, I, I mean can't, how long have you known?"

"A couple of days…"

"A couple of days!"

"_But I want you to know, that I understand that the only reason that you're with my brother right now is because you're worried about the age gap between us. And don't worry; I won't breathe a word about us to big brother. I already have a plan so you can let him off easy, so for now just keep pretending that nothing is wrong. I'll think of a way out of this. We will be together, and I don't care what anyone says. I'll be 18 soon, I'm my own man and I can make my own decisions. And I choose you, Tea. I don't know if you've realized this, but I've had feelings for you since Battle City! I can't imagine my life without you, I love you_." Mokuba was speaking so quickly, his eyes shut tight as me made the granddaddy of all confessions. Those three little words had been so difficult for him to say, but it was the truth. He had feelings for her ever since Battle City, of course back then it was nothing more than a silly little crush, puppy love, but they had increased exponentially since then. Tea swallowed a lump rising in her throat and struggled to keep her breathing steady, she hadn't expected that. "_Look, please don't think badly of me, I love my brother, I really and truly do, which is why I'm willing to wait, why I don't want to see him get hurt. But I have to follow my heart, and my heart is telling me to throw aside my wild, playboy ways and to devote myself to you and only you Tea. That is, if you will have me." _

"_Mokuba, I…_" Tea gasped.

"_Rocky Road?_" Kaiba's voice cut through her words like a steak knife and she looked up at him, startled. She stared at him, like a deer caught in the headlights.

"_Wha-what..?_" Tea stammered.

"_Is Rocky Road okay?_" Kaiba asked, shaking the brown grocery bag of ice cream, and other snacks. "_I also got some chocolate, some animal of the gummy persuasion, bubble gum, soda, you know, the works._"

"Rocky Road is fine, big brother. I don't mind Rocky Roads at all. In fact, I've lived my whole life traveling down; I mean eating, rocky roads, what's wrong with one more time?" Mokuba explained. Kaiba knitted his eyebrows in confusion, staring at the bag and then at Tea and Mokuba.

"_Its just ice cream…If you hate it that much I can take it back_." 

"No!" Tea shouted, causing Kaiba and Mokuba to stare at her. "I mean, no, I mean, I too have eaten my share of rocky road ice cream, and I'm willing to do so again. I don't really like that I have to choose between different nuts, you know almond or walnut, but if I have to go through that so I can finally find happiness, then I'm willing to."

"_If you want they had a chocolate marshmallow ice cream and then you won't have to eat any nuts_." Kaiba muttered, wondering why the two were acting so weird. He wasn't stupid, obviously this was about more than just ice cream, but he couldn't imagine what it could possibly be.

"No! You can never just throw out the nuts!" Mokuba exclaimed.

"That's right, nuts are important! I just don't like having to choose, that's all." Tea exclaimed. 

"_Okay…is there something I missing here_?" Kaiba finally asked, after wracking his brain and being unable to come up with a solution to their strange behavior.

"Nope, Tea and I are just serious about which ice cream flavor we want. "Yeah; we're just a couple of ice cream enthusiasts." 

"That's right, just a couple of fools in love, with ice cream." Tea assured, waving both hands in front of her and closing her eyes lest he see she was lying. Kaiba arched an eyebrow but shrugged, he honestly couldn't think of what else they could be referring to so he had to take them at face value, for now.

"Whatever." He muttered, tossing the bag in the backseat at Mokuba and strapping on his seatbelt. "Let's ride." Kaiba coolly announced, slipping on a pair of shades and revving his motor before peeling off down the road. Tea inwardly breathed in a sigh of relief, and sunk into her seat. Fishing in her bamboo purse (2) she found her pink lip gloss and put it on using the mirror attached to the inside of the sun visor. She also used the opportunity to look at Mokuba through the mirror. He had his arms folded across his chest and was glancing sidelong out of the window, obviously deep in thought. 

"Pachelbel Canon in D." Kaiba suddenly announced. Tea turned towards him utterly confused. "The comedian guy noticed this too; he had a whole rant about it." (3) 

"What are you talking about, that's the twisted sister…." Tea began.

"Twisted Sister." Mokuba corrected.

"What?" Tea asked confused.

"The band is called Twisted Sister, not The Twisted Sister." Mokuba explained.

"Whatever, I don't listen to boring old rock music anyway, I like pop music, and show tunes."

"Then you should recognize Pachelbel's Canon in D, it's used in plenty of pop songs. Listen: D…A…B…F sharp…G…D…G…A…" Kaiba muttered, his voice rising and falling with the song. 

"Seto, nobody cares about classical music." Mokuba rolled his eyes. He was tired of Kaiba's insistence that the music was good and all other forms of music we're just copying it, using the same chords and what not. "And for that matter why are you listening to this crap, put it on some real music, Tea can you put it on Power 105.1?" 

Tea turned the dial, silently agreeing with Mokuba. 

"3,6,9 standing real fine, move it to you sing it to me one mo time get low, get low get low get low…" Mokuba began singing along with the radio.

"Hell no, that song is offensive!" Tea shouted, changing the radio station.

"It starts in my toes and I crinkle my nose, wherever you go I always know, that you make me smile, please stay for a while, now just take your time, wherever you go…" Tea sang. Kaiba changed the radio stations using the automatic tuner on his steering wheel, and the tune of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata wafted through the car.

"This is depressing." Mokuba complained.

"This is real music, besides you didn't want to listen to rock." Kaiba pointed out. Tea rolled her eyes, deciding it was probably better not to get into to what appeared to be a long standing argument between the Kaiba brothers. The rest of the ride was spent in silence and no sooner had they pulled back into the Kaiba Manor did the two boys get out of the car, throw off their shoes, and head into their rooms to change, leaving her utterly confused. 

"Excuse me, can you tell me where the hot springs are?" Tea asked a passing maid. The woman looked her up and down, and gave her a look that clearly showed how disgusted she was by Tea's attire.

"The Kaiba brother's don't hire hookers, sweetheart, so please leave before I have security throw you out." The older woman bit out, before turning back to sweeping. 

"I'm not a hooker, I'm a guest!" Tea shouted.

"Oh really, the guests staying here are Ryou Bakura, Duke Devlin, Yugi Moto, Joey Wheeler, Serenity Kawai, Tristan Taylor and Mai Valentine, though both Miss Valentine and Mr. Wheeler have both indicated that there time here will be brief as they have their own accommodations in the city." The woman listed off, her eyes shut. "I helped them unpack their luggage myself, and since you are none of these people, I can only assume you somehow heard about their presence here and thought you'd be able to sneak a peek at the young masters bathing." 

Tea glared at the woman, her temper flaring up. "I'm not here because of that. Didn't you see me here earlier with Rebecca Hawkins? We both live here, we have no need to stay here, and how would I have known about the hot springs unless I'd been in the mansion before? Exactly, now show me where the damn room is or I'll have you fired!" Tea yelled. The woman gave Tea a disbelieving look, before taken out a radio from the tool belt wrapped around her waist.

"I'm going to give you one more chance to vacate the premises and then I'm calling security." The woman reiterated. Kaiba came down stairs, dressed in a robe with Mokuba and looked to Tea and back at the older woman.

"Smith, what seems to be the problem here?" Kaiba asked. The maid turned towards Kaiba, placing her hands on her hips.

"This hooker here is trying to sneak into your private bath." 

"Hooker? I see no hooker here, I see my girlfriend. And since you obviously can't tell the difference between a woman with class who is supposed to be here, and a hooker, I see no reason for you to continue working here." Kaiba hissed.

"I'm so sorry sir! I didn't know, please forgive me." She cried. "You've never had a girlfriend before so I just assumed…"

"You're fired, you have one hour to empty your locker and vacate the premises, before security escorts you out." Kaiba replied, unimpressed by her crying. Kaiba pushed the Kaiba Corp pin on the collar of his robe, and soon another butler came into the room.

"Johnson, Smith here has been terminated. Find her a box and call security if she isn't out of here in 58 minutes." Kaiba motioned before spinning on his heel. Tea glanced back at the woman, guiltily, before catching up with Kaiba and Mokuba who had stalked off. 

"Mr. Kaiba, I do hate to disturb you but a Mr. Pegasus is here to see you." Another butler said to Kaiba, who let a very frustrated growl. Tea, sensing how frustrated he was, placed a hand on his shoulder. 

"Look, I won't go to the hot springs without you, after we deal with Pegasus then we'll go together."

"I don't need your help." Kaiba bit out, stomping up the stairs. Tea could here his door slamming from downstairs, and was surprised it didn't go flying off the hinges. Tea turned towards Mokuba.

"So what, exactly is your plan? And please tell me its one where I don't end up dead?" Tea questioned.

"I want you to be annoying and clinging, and prattle on and on about how he needs more friends. My brother knows how I feel about you, so I'm just going to keep hitting on you. I figured my brother will eventually get so annoyed that he'll dump you, and then he'll just think I started dating you on the rebound." Mokuba muttered. Tea bit her lower lip, she really wasn't sure she even wanted to be with Mokuba, at least Kaiba was her age, but until she figured out what she wanted she supposed she'd have to go along with his plan. Mokuba may be sweet, but he could be just as conniving and sadistic as his brother. Heck, he had even played Yugi for the right to cut off his hands, simply because he'd embarrassed his brother by beating him in a card game (and giving him the punishment he'd deserved.) Anyone who thought Mokuba Kaiba was harmless was a fool. Tea shrugged and went upstairs to quickly change back into her clothes, while Mokuba went to relax in the hot spring. She ended up getting done a lot faster than Kaiba did and stood outside his door. Kaiba came out of his room, and glared at Tea for a moment, which she returned with a big smile, causing him to roll his eyes and head down the grand staircase. 

"Ah Kaiba boy, so nice to see you!" Pegasus said, rising from his seat and clasping his hands together.

"Spare me the pleasantries Pegasus, I know it was you who tried to kill me!" Kaiba snapped. Pegasus's face faltered for a moment, before a mock innocent smile crept on to his face.

"Come now Kaiba boy, is that anyway to treat your honored guest?" Pegasus asked, feigning hurt. Kaiba eyes narrowed, before he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a newspaper clipping.

"Care to explain why the man who tried to kill me, Siegfried von Schroeder's suit, is wearing an I2 pin on his coat." Kaiba asked tossing the paper at Pegasus. Pegasus glanced down at the paper.

"Kaiba boy, I can hardly be held accountable for someone else's taste in fashion." Pegasus replied coolly. Kaiba growled and stalked over to Pegasus, stopping just short of yanking the man down by his coat collar and demanding information.

"Don't play dumb with me Pegasus, I know it was you. Once I noticed that man was wearing an Industrial Illusions pin in this picture, it all added up. You were using the altercation I had with the Valkners and Schroeder as an excuse to take me out!" Kaiba snapped. Pegasus clapped his hands in mild amusement. Tea mentally rolled her eyes; it was Rebecca who had noticed the I2 pendant on the suit of the random bodyguard in the background. Kaiba hadn't noticed it because he didn't bother noticing the small details about people he didn't care about. Heck, he sometimes didn't acknowledge their existence at all.

"It seems like Sherlock Kaiba boy is on the case." Pegasus laughed, "Oh this is so funny, it's almost like a cartoon." 

Kaiba snorted. "So you admit to trying to kill me then, good then, why don't you explain to the police exactly what you find so humorous while I go on not giving a damn what you think."

Pegasus smirked, before shrugging. "Oh now Kaiba boy, you do jump to so many conclusions. I was merely pointing out the absurdity of your accusation. If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead. I wasn't trying to kill you."

"Bullshit!" Kaiba growled.

"Prove it." Pegasus sneered.

"Then what exactly were you doing then Pegasus? Hmm, care to explain to me why your hired thug shoved a gun in my face?"

"Care to explain to me why he never pulled the trigger?" Pegasus questioned, at this Kaiba became silent. 

"Then what was this whole situation about?" Kaiba hissed.

"Kaiba boy, you've been quite the fodder of the tabloids lately, haven't you?" Pegasus questioned. Kaiba's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. He wasn't sure what Pegasus was talking about. Pegasus resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "The gossip columns are all taking about the crazy girl who's in love with you, who risked her life to save you a couple of days ago. You were also spotted only moments ago, carrying said crazy girl into your car." Pegasus explained. Tea's eyes widened, as Pegasus's eyes trained on her. 

"That crazy girl is you, I presume." Pegasus said; his eye focused on Tea, some kind of weird glint in his eye. Tea nodded mutely, wondering what exactly Pegasus knew. "Interesting…" 

"What does that have to do with anything Pegasus?" Kaiba snapped. He felt everyone had taken crazy pills that morning, or something. Pegasus's good eye flicked over to Kaiba, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Oh Kaiba boy, do you treat all of your friends this way? You never write, you never call, and when I drop by, I'm greeted with nothing but suspicion and bad manners." Pegasus answered, clutching his heart in mock hurt, "Maybe you just need a hug?" 

"No thanks." Kaiba muttered, rolling his eyes. "Just tell me why you're here, or get out."

"Well, to be honest Kaiba boy I was paid a substantial amount of money to erase the contract you signed with Mrs. Valkner giving you majority ownership of her company, and to spy on you until the stocks were safely in her possession. I readily agreed as their were some files I wanted off your computer as well, but after that whole fiasco the other day, the funds Mrs. Valkner gave me have run out. I told her she'd have to get me more money, and she refused." Pegasus replied shrugging his shoulders. "So I've come to make you a deal."

"You have some nerve…" Kaiba growled.

"Either you give me the files I want, and a better rate to use Kaiba Land for promotional purposes, or I let leak certain things I've learned about you." Pegasus cut Kaiba off. He pulled from his pocket a handful of pictures, and shoved them at Kaiba. Kaiba's eyes widened, in the picture was his therapy file, his "feelings journal" which he specifically stated he hadn't wanted to write in the first place, but his therapist had insisted, and several pictures and memorabilia from his family. A video tape he hadn't recognized also sat in the box, with the words Sunshine Orphanage Fundraising Promo etched in thick black marker on a white label that was peeling off from years of neglect. Kaiba flushed with embarrassment and anger, and looked up at Pegasus, a look of rage etched on his face. 

"Listen here, you snake, I…"

"Come now Kaiba boy, none of that, you and I both know there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. So why don't you just be a good boy and hand over the blue prints to whatever it is that gives your holograms such a realistic feeling whenever they attack you, and I'll be on my way." Pegasus cut Kaiba off, boredom evident in his voice. "And just in case you get any ideas, I've read everything in those pictures, and watched every tape. I must say, I almost pity you but business is business, you know that."

"What makes you think I'm willing to negotiate with you? I control Valkner's company now, and I know several people in the media now who have connections to that company, I could just squash any news story you try to come out with."

"Can you squash the whole internet? Honestly Kaiba boy, don't be so rash. I'm trying to give you your life back for mine, just take the deal and accept that I've outmaneuvered you." Pegasus laughed. Kaiba eyebrows furrowed in confusion, before he his eyes widened in realization.

"I'm not giving you the blueprint, but if you want me to modify Cecilia's programming so that when she touches you, you can feel it, then that's a deal I'm willing to make." Kaiba offered. Pegasus eye narrowed. He didn't like that Kaiba was able to see through him so easily, but he supposed they'd interacted enough by now for Kaiba to have figured that much out, he did know Yugi Moto after all.

"You're not going to touch her! Give me the blueprints, or I'll make you regret it!" Pegasus snapped.

"Release that information and I'll deactivate her and you'll never even see her again." Kaiba said seriously. Pegasus eye widened.

"You aren't able to do that, I had the blueprints, and I programmed her myself!" 

"You have the blueprints that I sent you. Did you really think I was going to send you my company's bread and butter in a gift box, or that I even trusted you after Duelist Kingdom? I still don't trust you, you're a snake. However, we have to work together for the good of both of our companies; that is why I'm offering to fix the program for you, if you give me my personal possessions back. I'll even let you supervise, just think of me as her doctor."

"Fine then, have it your way. But I intend to watch your every move, so you better not try anything." 

"Give me back my stuff."

"I never took it in the first place, I simply had someone find all the stuff in your house and take a picture of it on a sample of my carpet. Go upstairs and see for yourself." Pegasus answered. Kaiba growled, and ran up the stairs. Pegasus turned to Tea, who had stayed quiet during the whole conversation.

"Its funny how many people don't think I know what's going on in my own home…" Pegasus remarked off handedly. "For instance, did you know Mokuba Kaiba had the nerve for to make out with some brunette at my party? Well I'm sure he told you all about it." 

"Pegasus, did you happen to get a good look at the girl's face?" Tea asked, trying to remove any suspicions the man may have had. 

"Don't worry; I'm not going to tell Kaiba, yet. But you better watch yourself, Kaiba boy can be quite the rabid animal sometimes, and Mokuba boy is the only thing keeping him muzzled and leashed. If you remove him from the picture, there is no telling what he'll do to you. I imagine it would be quite bad for you." Pegasus warned. "It would be a shame if someone was to tell him what's going on, don't you think?" 

"Pegasus…" Tea growled, fist clenching. Before she sighed, there really wasn't anything she could about it right now.

"Relax; I'm not going to say anything to Kaiba boy. So long as you keep an eye on him for me, and make sure he keeps up his end of the bargain." Pegasus threatened. 

"I can't betray him like that!" Tea hissed. "I refuse to spy on him for you."

"Trust me; you've already done far worse, if he ever finds out that is. Think about it, every single last person that Kaiba boy has ever gotten close to has betrayed him or died; except one. His precious, cute little brother and you've taken that away from him. If you don't do as I tell you, then I'll take great pleasure in ripping Kaiba boy and his cute, little family apart."

"You're a monster." Tea growled. 

"Oh come now, don't be like that. I'm sure from on we're going to be great friends." Pegasus chastised, talking down to her as though she was an infant. 

"I'll do it, but I'm not your friend." 

"Give it time, Tea my dear, give it time." Pegasus smirked. "Besides, you should thank me. You get to have the two most eligible bachelors Japan has to offer all to yourself. You can go where no woman has gone before, and make a man of Kaiba boy. And then when you're bored with sleeping with him and he's made you angry for the last time, you can destroy him in a way vindictive ex-girlfriends can usually only dream about. And all I'm asking for you to do to get this dream prize is keep tabs on him, its not like I'm going to destroy his company, I need his face too much for that." Pegasus stated, placing his hands on her shoulders. "It's not like you in love with him or anything, if you were you'd never be able to do what you're doing, so just sit back and enjoy the ride." 

Tea didn't know what to say, but guilt gnawed away at her insides and she found herself unable to look at Kaiba as he made his way back down the stairs.

"Your story checks out, and I'll begin working on Cecilia as soon as I get the opportunity. You want to be able to sleep with her, right?" Kaiba asked, disgustedly. Pegasus glared at Kaiba.

"I'd never cheapen Cecilia's memory by making her a glorified blowup doll. All I want is to be able to dance with her, even if you're only able to make that happen one time." 

"Whatever." Kaiba rolled his eyes, "Now vacate these premises or I'll have security escort you out."

"Pleasure doing business with you, and Tea my dear, it was a pleasure catching up on old times with you as well." Pegasus replied, before he walked out of the door. 

"I know you want to see the best in everyone, but don't talk to him anymore." Kaiba stated, walking over to Tea, when he noticed her crest fallen face. "He didn't hurt you or anything, did he?" 

Tea shook her head, unable to stop a tear running down her cheek. "I just…" Tea began, resolving to tell Kaiba the truth before Pegasus could use it to manipulate him. She met Kaiba's eyes, which were now so full of trust, and she realized he was falling in love with her. She tore her gaze away, and found she was unable to tell him, instead breaking down into sobs. "You think you've helped a person, that they're your friend that they've changed for the better and then you find out who they really are, I feel like such a fool. I should've known Pegasus hadn't changed." She lied, sure Pegasus hadn't changed as much she'd liked, but there was a time when Pegasus really would've stolen Kaiba's things and hurt him with the information inside, without giving it a second thought. There had been a time, when he would've kidnapped Kaiba and forced him to fix Cecilia's hologram, not negotiated a deal with him, or rather tricked him into doing it. No, Pegasus wasn't her problem; it was her own cowardice that was bothering her. 

"Look, people in general are scum. Of course, there are a few exceptions to the rule, but people like Pegasus don't change, their snakes. In this world, there is really no such thing as true friendship, only people using each other for their own benefit. You're one of the lucky ones, who managed to find someone who isn't scum, someone you can really call friend. I've only recently known such luck, so you should look forward to the future with the ones who care about you, and just forget about everyone else, they're aren't worth your compassion. Humanity in general is nothing but a bunch of double crossing, good for nothing snakes that pretend they have morals anyway. Because of them, life sucks and then you die. The most you can do is make the best of it with the few good people around you, and let everyone else kill each other." Kaiba said, placing an arm on her shoulder. Tea gave a wry smile and couldn't help but laugh.

"Is that supposed to be a pep talk?" She questioned, her sobs slowly turning into laughs.

"You stopped crying, didn't you?" Kaiba pointed out, indignantly.

"Thanks Kaiba." 

"Don't mention it, let's ditch my brother for a second and eat some of that ice cream." Kaiba stated, suddenly craving something a little less depressing.

"I don't remember you putting it into the freezer!" Tea suddenly exclaimed, looking for what would be by now a dripping mess of a bag.

"I bet you the maids have taken care of it already for me; loser has to do what I tell them to." 

"Deal!" Tea said, and they shook on it. Then realization dawned on her, "Hey, wait a minute!"

"A deal is a deal Gardner." Kaiba teased, opening the freezer. Sure enough, there was the ice cream. Kaiba grabbed a spoon and a small bowl and scooped himself some ice cream. "Hmm, since you lost, you have to watch me eat some." Kaiba teased. Tea pouted, as Kaiba took a big spoonful and stuck it in his mouth, overly exaggerating how good the ice cream was. Tea stood on her tip toes and kissed him, getting some of the ice cream for herself. She sneakily grabbed the bowl from him as he deepened the kiss. Pulling away, she smirked and took a bite of what was now her ice cream.

"Hey, you lost." Kaiba said, reaching for the bowl. Tea pulled away from him, and ate another spoonful.

"Taste like I won to me." She winked sauntering off. Kaiba just smiled at her childish antics, before pulling another bowl from the shelf.

* * *

This chapter is dedicated to drkmagiciangrl25, Nara Merald, and animeroxz, my most frequent reviewers. Without you guys this story wouldn't be continuing, thanks for your reviews, they let me know someone out there is reading this and doesn't think my work is complete crap.

* * *

I just realized I forgot to explain my little numbers :P Here are the explanations

(1) Something one of the Japanese girls said to my friend during conversation hour. Conversation hour is for English speakers who want to improve their Japanese by speaking to natives from the country.

(2) I have this purse, it is so cute. You can find it at World Market

(3) This is adapted by a standup comedy shtick my comedian Rob Paravoian, find it on youtube, it is hilarious and the amount of songs that use it are mind boggling.


	14. Memories

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or Shiseido's White Rose Perfume or Doraemon or Dangerous Exploding Black Beard Pirate or Baseball Board or The Game of Life  
(_Japanese/Flashback) _**You'll understand the whole flashback thing when you get to the part, its not that complicated since the speakers would be speaking Japanese anyway, since Kaiba is obviously Japanese**  
English

* * *

Kaiba blinked a couple of times as he looked out at his various workers, shuffling about, answering phone calls, and typing furiously in his customer care center. He'd been called a male chauvinist a couple of times, but he'd never really understood where it came from, until now. He stared out at the bevy of beautiful women, answering calls and talking into their headsets; information streaming across the glasses they wore updating them on the ins and outs of what was going on at their work station so that they could simultaneously serve as the customer care rep and technician should a problem arise. Each of these women were brilliant, each of them at the very least holding a bachelors degree in computer science engineering. Some of them went beyond that though. They all also had another thing in common, they were all thin, all of them had big chests and they were all wearing candy colored wigs and short skirts. He hadn't really thought about it **that** way before, nor had is intention been to create for himself a harem of compliant, intelligent, beautiful women to answer his phones and make his coffee. The outfits had been meant to invoke images of science fiction films, to invoke images of all things high tech and futuristic and transport clients into a world they had only dreamt possible. It had worked like a charm too; his call center looked like it had been transported from the future, and brought to this planet by someone of far superior intelligence who held far superior technology. He had dismissed all claims of being a male chauvinist with a wave of a hand, pointed out the head of human resources was a woman and she didn't have to wear such outfits and told the dissenters exactly his reasoning behind the uniforms. But he still noticed a twinkle of doubt in their eyes, as they softly bit their tongues and wrote in their notepads. It had always confused him, until now.

His realization had started innocently enough. He'd been monitoring the call center, doing a surprise inspection just to make sure everyone was doing their jobs correctly. He'd ordered one of the girls to bring him bottled water. She had put the money in the machine, and bent down to grab the water. It was then that he realized how hot she was, with her sparkling blue eyes, and perfect smile. Her cheeriness, and short hair (which he just now also realized he must've had a thing for since every girl he'd ever found attractive save Ishizu had, had short hair) had reminded of him of Tea. And then he had wondered what Tea what would look like in Kaiba Corp's call center girl's uniform. It was only after the girl realized he'd checked her out and winked at him, had he snapped out of it and mentally chastised himself for thinking such thoughts at work. It was unprofessional and would make people think he was one those male chauvinistic bosses who hit on their female employees, which of course had brought him to the aforementioned realization.

"Sir, is everything all right?" One of the girls, Candy judging by her nametag, had asked him.

"How many inches above the knee are the standard issue skirts?" He asked, noticing some of the girl's skirts were slightly shorter and tighter than others, probably because they were wearing a uniform a size too small for them.

"Why, only a couple of inches, Sir. May I ask why you ask?" She questioned, cocking her head to the side. He frowned, taking a sip of the water and shaking his head.

"And, have any of the women expressed any complaints about the uniform?" Kaiba asked, blowing off her question completely. He didn't feel the need to explain himself to anyone.

"They seem to hate the wigs more than they do the skirts, Sir." She nodded. "But I personally think they'd look like sluts without them. I think it gives the place a very futuristic feel, personally. It feels like we're way ahead of our time, in fact." Of course, she didn't have to wear a uniform. No one on the upper floors did, just the people on the lower end of the company hierarchy. The lab assistants, the lab workers, the call center girls, the women who monitored everything, the lobby receptionists; these people all had to wear uniforms. The men wore lab coats, long sleeve shirts and khakis. Management and the people lucky enough to be somebody's personal secretary or assistant only had to wear more formal business attire, but not a specific uniform.

"All the same, lower the skirts an inch, and don't allow anyone to wear uniforms that are smaller than their actual size. I don't want people to think I'm running a whorehouse." Kaiba snorted, finishing his water and tossing it into a waste receptacle. "Iron out the details with the Vice President, that's what he's here for." Kaiba added as an afterthought. He'd begun referring to Mokuba by his title whenever he was sending someone over to him with a specific task because people had been becoming too informal with his brother as of late. They called him by his first name, and simplified their words whenever they talked to him as though he was their equal. Which Kaiba had to remind Mokuba time and time again he was not; he was their boss. It was fine when he was a little kid, but he was almost out of high school and it was about time he started demanding respect.

* * *

Mokuba stifled a yawn as he listened to the marketing department's new ad campaign. The colors were bold and the design of the duel disk was sleeker, but it needed something more. Something catchy that the kids who would come to populate his brother's asinine dueling school would repeat over and over like the little word of mouth advertising puppets they were.

"It still doesn't feel right…." Mokuba interrupted. "School shouldn't be anywhere in the slogan, remember we're trying to convince kids that it will be fun." The man frowned for a second before bowing politely.

"Yes sir, we'll come up with something new right away sir." He said as he took the Styrofoam poster board down from the tripod it stood on. "So sorry to waste your time Sir, we'll come up with something new right away."

"Alright, I expect to see something by next week, we've already delayed these plans long enough. The new duel disk has been ready for two weeks now; plans have already been announced to have them on shelves for the holiday season. If we want to create a rush, we need to start advertising now." Mokuba said, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Yes Sir!" The man agreed timidly, inwardly going into a panic. Next week was too soon, considering they didn't even have a pitch, let alone art drawn up or a clientele focus group assembled. Mokuba nodded, and headed out the door.

"All right people, you heard the boss, its time to get our game faces on and think of a new slogan!" He shouted at his subordinates. "'Finally school is cool' was a horrible idea, I want to see whoever approved it in my office ASAP! And another thing…"

"Wait, what did you say?" Mokuba asked from his spot by the door. He'd been just about to leave the room, when he heard the slogan just pop out at him.

"…And another thing?" They man reiterated.

"No, before that…."

"Get your game face on, that's it sir, brilliant!" The man clapped enthusiastically.

"No, no, nothing like that would ever catch on….how about its time to get your game on?" Mokuba thought aloud. "That's it, It's time to get your game on is our new slogan!"

"Brilliant, sir." The man repeated.

"Absolutely marvelous!" One of his female subordinates echoed.

"Good, then that's settled. I want new advertisement art drawn up, and I'm thinking we're probably going to have to redesign the duel disks. We need something slicker, hipper than before. Also run this by a focus group, and let me know how it works out." Mokuba nodded. Now the only problem was running the whole thing by his brother. His brother was a dueling purist, and hadn't even been on the circuits lately because he didn't like the direction the game, and those participated in it were heading. It didn't matter to him that the talent was better, and the duelists harder to beat, they were making a mockery of the game in his eyes.

Mokuba walked towards his brother's office when he was stopped by one of his younger female employees.

"Oh, I'm so glad I ran into you! I was just on my way to your office. Mr. Kaiba wants you to sign some papers so that the skirts for the uniforms for the girls over in CC can be made longer!" Candy said. Mokuba raised an eyebrow.

"That hardly seems necessary, it's not like their wearing mini skirts…and the costs for something like that would outweigh any benefits….did my brother think any of this through or did he just catch himself checking out some chick and mumble something about hookers."

"Well, he didn't say hookers…" Candy said, eyes darting to the side and her voice rising slightly, confirming that there should be a 'but' in the sentence.

"Give me those papers. I'm going to file them in the circular file for later." Mokuba replied as he outstretched his hand. The woman plopped down the various forms necessary to implement such a change, and then with a shrug left. Mokuba tucked the files under his arm and proceeded to his brother's office, knocking a couple of times, pausing and then knocking two more times so that his brother knew it was him. When no reply came out on the intercom attached to his brother's office, he tried to open the door, only to find it was locked. A wide grin spread on Mokuba's face and he swiped his locket on a card reader by the door to override the lock. Tip-toeing quietly into the dark room, he softly closed the door behind him. He grinned when he spotted his brother. Kaiba was passed out on his couch, one arm draped across his face with a remote control loosely gripped in his hand. In his other hand were the empty remains of a cup of instant noodles. Getting extremely close to his brother, he gently pulled out the knife his brother carried in his inside coat pocket and tossed it to the side, replacing it with a pencil from his pocket.

"Boo!" He yelled grabbing Kaiba suddenly. Kaiba eyes widened and he jumped up and held the pencil up in the air defensively, jolted out of his seat by the sudden contact. Mokuba clutched his sides and laughed hysterically as Kaiba stared at the pencil in that utter confusion that clouds the mind when a person is jolted out of their sleep.

"What happened to my knife?" Kaiba questioned shaking his head, clearly unamused. "And that wasn't funny."

"Meh, that's what you get for sleeping on the job. You've fired people for that same behavior you know." Mokuba pointed out, stifling a laugh. Kaiba tossed the pencil at him, before spotting his knife on the ground and picking it up.

"It's my lunch break, in case you haven't noticed." Kaiba pointed to the clock. Mokuba looked at its digital readout and a sheepish smile spread across his face.

"Oops." was the closest thing to an apology he offered before he heard Kaiba's PDA start beeping. Kaiba picked it up and shut it off the alarm. Immediately Mokuba's PDA began vibrating in his pant's pocket. He pulled it out and shut off his own alarm, which signaled that his brother was now back on duty and he was officially off for an hour. His brother of course took half that time, and had informed him earlier that starting after graduation he'd only get a half hour too, but for now he got a full hour.

"Tell you what Seto, why don't you sleep for another half hour and I'll take my break after you wake up? I'm not hungry right now anyway, and I've got some great ideas I want to get written down before I forget." Mokuba shrugged. Kaiba yawned and buried his head in his arms, falling asleep right at the desk. Mokuba frowned, wondering why his brother was so tired. He was usually had way more energy than he could ever hope to obtain, it was boundless.

"Hey, big brother, wake up and go to the couch. You can have my whole hour if you want." He asked with concern, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder lightly to wake him up.

"Are you sure?" Kaiba asked, already heading over to the couch. Mokuba ignored his stomach's protests and nodded his head. Kaiba fell back asleep as soon as his head hit the cushion. Mokuba hacked into his brother's computer and pulled up the last thing he'd been working on. It was the blueprints to his latest invention, one that he hadn't even told Mokuba about as of yet. It was some kind of lifelike robot that was supposed to be able to provide a friend to play games with for elderly people. There was also some kind of blueprint for a robot that didn't have any of its own artificial intelligence. Mokuba curiously opened it, and saw his brother was trying to find a way to upload Noa's memories onto it. He'd had some kind of major breakthrough with it and had apparently been secretly staying up all night for days. Mokuba frowned, Kaiba had worked on various other things from work, and had even completed some tasks that he himself was suppose to have done, but had forgotten to do. He honestly didn't know why he did these things to himself, if Kaiba had simply reminded Mokuba that the forms needed to be completed, he would've done so himself and saved his brother the trouble. Closing down Kaiba's files, he worked on his own files and put the plans from the new slogan and ad campaign onto his brother's computer.

A knock sounded at the door, and Mokuba frowned, standing up to answer it before Kaiba got up, smoothed down his hair and readjusted his suit, before answering the door himself. His eyes widened when he saw who it was.

"Are you just going to stare at me all day, or do you want to know why I'm here?" Eric Valkner, a large, burly man who made even the 6 foot 3 Kaiba, appear short. Kaiba glared before opening the door, stifling a yawn behind the man's back.

"Let me guess, your sister couldn't think of a way to get her company back so she sent her big brother in to rescue her?" Kaiba questioned, a smirk tugging against his features.

"Well, something like that." The man affirmed, pulling a checkbook out of his pocket. "However, I'm not here to threaten your life or anything of the sort. I'm not a gambler like my sister is and I know when to fold my hand."

"Queer." Mokuba muttered under his breath. Eric Valkner lazily cast a sidelong glance at Mokuba, before rolling his steely blue eyes and looking back down at Kaiba.

"Well, despite such juvenile remarks from the peanut gallery over there, I'm prepared to offer you a large sum of money for those shares back." Eric yawned, pulling out a checkbook from his coat pocket. "Oh dear, seems I've forgotten my pen." He muttered, patting himself down. Kaiba pulled one out of his coat pocket, twirling it around a few times before it ended up in facing the larger man. A smirk crept its way up on his face as he chuckled to himself.

"Ever the showman I see; good for you." He patronized, writing out the check. "This seem like a fair price to you?" Kaiba snatched the check, already prepared to rip it up in the man's face and kick him out of his office. The only reason he'd even let the man write the check in the first place was to see how desperate the Valkners were to get the holding back. Kaiba's eyes widened at the number and he glanced at the man in shock.

"This is almost double the market value of those shares."

"I know."

"What's the catch?"

"None, you see those share prices are falling in your possession as the board has yet to convene or do anything to assuage the shareholders fears. Cars are not your area of expertise, so a lot of people don't feel you're qualified to run the company. I will not see that company fall to the ground over a lost hand of poker!" Eric stated. "Besides, when the shareholders see that I'm in charge of the company now, any doubts they had will dissipate and the share prices will certainly go back up. Johnson has made it quite clear that he intends to dump all his shares at once unless I get that company out of your incompetent grasp. A failure that colossal on your part would spell disaster on more than just some car company you don't care about. This saves you that kind of embarrassment, keeps the Valkner fortune in the hands of its rightful owners for over a hundred years, and allows you to save face. You didn't get a bad deal, or crack under the pressure; you made a huge profit on the venture. This could only mean good things for Kaiba Corp's stocks as well, so just take the money, besides you and I both know you could never have run that company properly."

Kaiba growled; irritated not just at the patronizing tone in the man's voice but at the idea that he couldn't have run the company himself. Ripping up the check, he threw into the man's face. "Get out." he snapped, pointing towards the door. Eric glanced at the door, his eyelids fluttering closed. Bowing his head, and shaking it he let out a light chuckle.

"Save me the theatrics, Kaiba. You're nothing more than a loud mouth idiot. I simply stated the truth and gave you a way to save face and you throw it away like your own family threw you away. I assumed you more than anyone would know how foolish it is to throw away something precious just because you don't like it. Oh well, I suppose it can't be helped. You didn't have anyone to teach you how to behave after all."

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Kaiba snapped, eyes narrowing and fist clenching at his side.

"Oh well, I guess I'm just going to have to teach you the same way I'd teach a dog, through humiliation."

"Security..." Kaiba growled, into the microphone attached to the KC pin on his jacket. Eric Valkner pulled a VHS tape out of his inside coat pocket and waved in the air.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He warned. Kaiba glared back at him.

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba?" Roland's voice came through quiet and barely audible.

"Stand by." Kaiba hissed, before glancing back up the man in front of him. "You have five seconds to show me your stupid little home movie before I have you thrown out."

"Mr. Kaiba do you raise dogs?" Eric asked, waltzing over to Kaiba's television. Kaiba crossed his arms over his chest.

"Get to the point already!" Mokuba shouted, slamming his hands down on the table. Eric snorted as if Mokuba had done something funny, and returned to setting up the table.

"Beautiful, loyal, stupid little creatures dogs are, and just as stubborn as an ox when they are first born. Kind of like you." He smirked.

"What did ….?" Kaiba hissed, a vein actually pulsing in his hand from his fist being clenched so tight.

"They'll also eat anything you put in front of them. They'll eat antifreeze if you put it in front of them. Heck they'll even drink from the toilet…or eat garbage." Eric continued, cutting Kaiba off completely. A triumphant smirk danced across his lips "Just like you, herr Kaiba." Eric finished, pressing play on the microphone.

A black and white static appeared on the screen, before a kite flying in the wind came onto the screen. Some children Mokuba vaguely recognized also flickered on the screen, happily running around and playing tag. Mokuba stood up, feeling as though he recognized the stone gray building they were playing in front of though he couldn't quite place it. Mokuba glanced over at his brother, whose face had gone white as a ghost, his blue eyes opened so wide his eyebrows for the most part had disappeared behind his bangs. Mokuba eyes widened to when a kindly, older Japanese man was kneeling on the ground with who was undoubtedly his older brother on his lap as child.

"_Everyone I would like you to meet Seto._" The man began, subtitles flashing across the bottom of the screen in English and onto the top of the screen in German. The scene changed to a Polaroid of a much younger Kaiba playing a piano concert when he was five."_He is 10 years old and has already obtained an IQ of 181. He is able to play the piano and is said to be an unmatchable player of chess._" "_Truly, he is a very special child._" The man's voice could continue to be heard as footage of Kaiba playing soccer and beating an adult in chess at a tournament he had entered."_But there is one more thing he is known for, and that is for being unknown. This is because he lives here in Sunshine Orphanage._" The building zoomed out to a large, beautiful gated stone building with the words Sunshine Orphanage inscribed in gold on a sign were shown. "_This building is very old, and is in dire need of the repair. All of the buildings funds are spent on repairs, but it still is not enough._" The man walked into the inside of the building, which contrasted starkly with the beautiful outside of it. One of the stairs was taped off and had holes in it. The building was cramped with several beds that had dirty sheets on them. The lights all dangled from the ceiling from bare wires, and pots and pans were put out on the floor to catch leaks. "_There are very few toys here for the children to play with, and as such many fights break out because there is simply not enough to share. Some of the older kids, including Seto must give their meager portions to their cute younger siblings and then forage for food in the garbage or beg for scraps from people in a neighborhood that can't afford to give them any._" The man's voice continued, which was spliced together with footage of several kids, including Kaiba digging in the trash cans and eating their finds. The footage stopped and the man was this time standing in front of a bunch of kids.

"_Tell me Seto, why are you giving your food to your little brother._"

"_Actually, I am not so special. Many of the younger kids are too small to find the good food, and some of the adults will mess with them if they beg. They will die if we don't give them our food, so it can't be helped._" A much more modest, kinder, younger Kaiba said, shrugging his shoulders.

"_Does your brother ever refuse?_"

"_No, I don't tell him what I am doing. I just tell him that I have special relationship with headmistress and she will feed me later. Since I am always the same weight, he believes me. And even if I wasn't, he'd still believe me. You just can't always tell littler kids the truth, you know?_" Seto explained with wisdom beyond his young years.

"_If you had a million yen, what would you buy_?" He asked.

"_Games, of course. Games make life easier and let you forget that you are so poor and lonely for a moment. When you are playing a game, you can be millionaire or dog or racecar or a hungry hippo, whatever you want to be! I think the most disappointing thing I experienced while I have been living here was when I couldn't go to the national chess championship. I had won for my prefecture, but the next tournament required me to fly out to Tokyo and we needed the prize money I won to buy food, so I couldn't go._"

"_That must have been tough, but you are a strong kid Seto and I'll know you will find a good home someday._" The man said, a smile playing across his face. The scene cut to the man sitting with all of the older children (who had been made to look dirtier than they actually were to gain sympathy.) "_If you want to help Seto or any of the other good boys and girls please donate food, clothing or money so that these children can accomplish their dreams. Please call the number at the bottom of the screen to make a donation or even adopt one these fine children. Everyone, I know this may be difficult but if we all try our best than we can make a difference!_"

The screen went back to static and Mokuba looked at his brother, who now had his head bowed, with his bangs covering his face. His fists were clenching and unclenching as the young C.E.O tried to figure out the best plan of action. Eric turned around and smirked at Kaiba, relishing in the younger man's obvious utter humiliation.

"This video was sent out to all the major CEOs who did business in and around Rintama. My father got this video before he died and actually did make a donation shortly after you were adopted. It also played on Rintama's public airways for a little while before it was determined it was far too graphic to be on television. Unfortunately, Gozaboro Kaiba was the first to make a substantial delivery, he even adopted your brother and you, so he gained all the good publicity and everyone else just looked like they were hopping on his bandwagon." The man explained, closing his eyes. "I immediately made the connection and have kept the matter to myself, because quite frankly it wasn't any of my business. Unfortunately, you've made it my business by taking my sister's company away from her." The man chastised. "Do try to understand, I'm only looking out for my sister's well being, as you looked out for your cute little brother. Take the money, give me back the company, and I'll be on my way. Don't and well, let's just say it would be wise to invest in FYI magazine."

Kaiba considered his options for a moment. Even if he took the money, and gave back the shares there was no guarantee that the Valkners would stop at that. He'd totally humiliated the man's sister and that was unlikely to be forgiven. But if he didn't take the money he was guaranteeing that the video would see the light of day and people would know. Kaiba swallowed, reigning in on his emotions, before locking eyes sharply with the older man in front of him.

"Take that video and shove it up your ass." Kaiba whispered.

"What was that?" Eric asked, unable to hear Kaiba due to how quiet he'd become. Kaiba shook his head, and glared at the man, before punching him in his face sending him stumbling backwards onto the couch.

"I said take that video and shove it up your ass!" Kaiba shouted. "Oh, and you'll be hearing from my lawyers, now get out before I have security throw you out."

The man stood up and dusted himself off, his face red with anger. "You haven't seen the last of me, I assure you."

"Now that's the only thing we've agreed on all day." Kaiba smirked, sizing up the other man. He waltzed over to the door and held it open for him. Eric glared at Mokuba and Kaiba for a moment, before mustering up his dignity and straightening up his gray suit.

"You're going to regret this." The man whispered in Kaiba's ear, before making his exit. Kaiba closed the door, and locked it back down. Then he slumped down to the ground, his black sliding against the door.

"Are you sure that was the right decision?" Mokuba asked.

"Page my lawyers, tell them what happened and file the necessary papers to get a court sanctioned block of the video." Kaiba listlessly replied, staring straight past Mokuba.

"You know, none of this would be happening if you didn't always blow me off like that." Mokuba frowned. "You didn't have to give me your food; if you hadn't then you wouldn't have had to eat…pre owned food. You would've had your own."

"I don't blow you off."

"Not when it comes to my needs no, but why won't you let me help you with yours." Mokuba asked, walking over and placing an arm on his brother's shoulder.

"I don't need to talk about my feelings because there is nothing to feel, it's in the past, now get back to work. I'm going home and I'm counting on you to handle business here."

"Alright Big brother, whatever you think is best." Mokuba sighed. "Just, try to get some sleep okay?"

Kaiba shook his head and closed his laptop, pulling out the plug from the wall and slipping into the sleek, duralumin brief case it called home. "There's no time for sleep, I have a company to run. What is the point of having a home office, if when I go home early, I don't use it?"

"I promise to not chase after the girls in school and focus on my studies if you relax and go to sleep, for the rest of the day."

"I can't sleep a whole day."

"No, but when you aren't sleeping you could be relaxing. Take a bath in the hot springs, play the piano, watch a movie; you'll get more work done tomorrow if you take time off today. But if you don't want to, I guess I can make it my mission to sleep with all the girls in school who pass the STD test. I know it's still risky because someone could get pregnant, but that's a risk I'm willing to take, for the both of us." Mokuba grinned, placing a hand over his heart.

"Fine, but you have to finish my work up and your work up tonight. If it's not done by tomorrow morning, 8am sharp, then I'm not doing this again. And for the record, I hate you." Kaiba huffed, shoving his suitcase into Mokuba's capable arms. Mokuba laughed. Kaiba shot him a playful glare, before making his exit.

"Have fun Seto!" Mokuba called as Kaiba opened the door.

"Bite me!" Kaiba shot back, a playful smile tugging at his lips, before he left for the day. He had to admit it was nice having someone he could actually trust and was old enough to take up his slack every now and then around. Running a hand through his hair, he called his limo, which immediately pulled out of the garage and had pulled up to the front of the building within a matter of moments. Kaiba folded his arms across his chest and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Without Mokuba around with idle chatter and constant jokes, he had a lot more time to think. Today thinking was not exactly high up on his priorities. It caused his thoughts to wander back to that video. He'd done the thing to ensure someone rich and famous would come to the orphanage. It seemed to have done more harm than good. It had caused his brother's self esteem to be low for a long time, making him believe that the reason no one wanted to adopt him was because he wasn't good enough to be adopted. In all actuality the only reason they'd even heard of him was because of that video. The parents had come looking for the amazing down on his luck child in the video, and when they discovered they had to adopt two children they had opted to adopt someone else instead; someone who didn't have siblings. It also caused that man to take notice of the orphanage a place he wouldn't have given a rat's ass about unless it was the fashionable thing to do to care.

Kaiba frowned. He wished he hated Gozaboro more than he did. He did hate him, but he also still felt the need to prove himself to the dead man. It's why he had erected that tower at Battle City in the first place. He'd known long before Ishizu ever told him about the god cards that he had wanted to duel and defeat Yugi Moto on top of that tower, to prove to Gozaboro once and for all that he had moved on, that he couldn't hurt him anymore, that he reigned supreme. He had failed and a little piece of him had died that day. Kaiba sighed and shifted in his seat again, crossing his arms over his chest and mentally willing himself to stop thinking about that. Suddenly he remembered that Mokuba had only promised not to go after the girls in his school, and that he'd just authorized him to inspect the skirts of the female employees at work, which meant he probably would need some girls to model for him. Deciding not to the think about that either, he glanced at his watch, and then pulled out his cell phone.

* * *

Tea buried her head in her arms and was crying. She was still dressed in a fuzzy pink robe and her hair was a mess. Her eyes were streaked red and her knuckles were white from the strength of the grip she was applying to the green coffee mug in her hand. Mai was sitting on the kitchen table, running a hand through her hair.

"There, there hun, there'll be other parts." Mai cooed, taking the cup of cold hot chocolate from Tea's grasp and walking over to the kitchen sink. She quickly washed it and then hopped back up onto the kitchen table.

"It just hurts so much!" Tea hiccupped between sobs. "I hate Vivian Wong, I hate her! Stupid, rich, stuck up…" Tea muttered, burying her face into her hands. "Oh what I'm saying the whore is fabulous. That's why she got to take over the part."

"Well, if you ask me she's better suited to play the part of a raging lunatic anyway. The character's a bitch and has a small part; you were much too good for it." Mai reasoned, taking Tea's hand into her own.

"There are no small parts Mai, only small people. Besides this was Broadway, don't you understand how big of a deal Broadway is…? It's every respectable dancer's dream!" Tea sobbed. "And how am I suppose to pay the rent, I needed that check!"

"I can pay it this month hun, its no big deal." Mai shrugged.

"No Mai, it's a way big deal. You are already paying for Joey's apartment you don't need to cover my half of the rent too."

"Hun, it's really no big deal! I have a ton of money saved up from winning all those tournaments. Once Kaiba and Yugi stopped dueling, their really wasn't any competition left for me. Besides…" The phone rang, cutting Mai off. Standing up, she did a cat stretch before walking over to the cheery, yellow phone in the other room.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Valentine, put Tea on the phone." Kaiba stated. Mai rolled her eyes.

"Good Morning to you too Kaiba, hold on a second." Mai said, waltzing into the kitchen.

"Your boyfriend is on the phone." Mai motioned with a bob of her head. Tea frowned.

"Which one…?"

"Seto Kaiba."

"Tell him I'm asleep or using the toilet or something, I'm in no mood to put up with his shit about picking myself up and moving on." Tea huffed. Mai frowned before walking back into the room and taking the cordless phone out of its receiver. Walking back into the kitchen, Mai held up the phone. Tea shook her head and arms, trying to get Mai not to hand her the phone.

"She's right here Kaiba, and just to warn you, she just got fired. So, she needs some major cheering up." Mai said. Kaiba remained silent on the other end, glaring out of his car window as the car made its way out of the immediate city and to his house. Tea glared at Mai, causing Mai to smile and wave back, before she flicked her hair and waltzed out of the room.

"Do you want the director to have an accident or something?" Kaiba asked bluntly, causing Tea's jaw to drop.

"No! I'm just a little upset I didn't get to keep my part, I don't want anyone hurt, well besides maybe Vivan Wong…" Tea muttered under her breath.

"Vivian Wong, got it, I'll have her taken care of." Kaiba deadpanned, clicking a pen loudly into his end of the receiver.

"Kaiba don't!" Tea shouted, "I didn't mean it, I'm just frustrated that's all. Really, I'm fine now. Its just one play, there will be others!"

"Good. By the way, I wasn't going to have anyone killed just because a famous actor stole your bit part. If I were to get involved in any way, I'd hire some writers to write you your own Broadway musical. But I'd constantly be killing people if I killed someone just because a washed up famous actor stole someone's part." Kaiba shrugged.

"You were joking?" Tea asked incredously. "You, oh you're terrible. You scared the crap out of me, jerk!" Tea huffed, mock angrily, her tears drying up. Kaiba laughed.

"Really put things into perspective though, right?" Kaiba asked. "It's as you said, there will be other plays. And if you needed the money or something, well you have an insanely wealthy boyfriend who couldn't spend all the money he had in his lifetime even if he wanted too. So I wouldn't worry too much about that if I were you." Kaiba shrugged.

"Thanks, but I don't want you paying my bills." Tea said seriously. It just wasn't right, considering she was spying on him for Pegasus and dating his little brother. Even if those things weren't happening though, and they'd been in a normal relationship, she still wouldn't have let him pay her bills.

"Aren't you the one who's already prattling on about letting people help you?" Kaiba pointed out. Tea sighed.

"That was then, this is now, aren't you the one always going on about letting go of the past and moving toward the future?" Tea shot back. Kaiba chuckled on the other end of the receiver.

"As you said, that was then, this is now. Besides, this is a totally different circumstance. When I was in the orphanage I didn't not eat just because someone had donated the food. Crying over your past and accepting handouts when you don't need it because you're too lazy or cowardly to do something about your own problems is one thing. And your situation is another. Using people for your own purposes isn't weakness it's the smart thing to do. Intelligence is power, and power is strength. Ergo, take the damn money."

"But…"

"I don't take no for answer."

"Isn't that what a rapist would say? Just drop it!"

Kaiba narrowed his eyes. "First off, I'd never rape anyone. Why the hell would I even need to, I'm already one of the greatest human beings on the face of this planet. I don't need to beat up some girl to prove anything to myself. Besides anyone who would do that is a coward. That has nothing to do with this. Take the damn money or I'll just go over your head and give the money to Valentine."

"I'll just tell her not to let you."

"When was the last time Valentine didn't say yes to free money? As long as it doesn't affect her negatively or make her look like a slut or a gold digger, the woman will take it. That's why she continues to duel on the side even though there is no longer anyone worthy to duel against. She's probably the only one of your friends I can even tolerate because of that. She willing to do what it takes to get what she wants in life, and she doesn't give a rat's ass what people say about it. Heck, before she started hanging around your little nerd herd she was actually someone I respected. I wouldn't have invited her to participate in Battle City if that had not been the case."

"You're a real piece of work, you know that? You know what fine, I'll take the money. But I'm not happy about it." Tea rolled her eyes in irritation. Her brows furrowed as she suddenly realized Kaiba had been the one to call her, and he hadn't known about her getting fired when he called. "Hey what did you call for anyway?"

"Hm?" Kaiba grunted, staring out his window. "I was just calling to talk to you about something you might here in the news or on You View or something. I felt it was better you heard it from me, before the tabloids make it seem worse than it is."

"What's wrong?" Tea asked sitting up and gripping the phone, worry and panic overcoming her. She briefly wondered if someone was going to try to kill her.

"_Well, the truth is…A long time ago there was this video I took part in._"

"Like a sex tape!" Tea yelped in surprise. Why did ever famous person seem to have a sex tape, were that they that narcissistic?

"_No, I really wasn't lying to you when I said I hadn't done anything like that before. This was for charity._"

"What's bad about that?" She asked confused.

"_Well, when I was younger, I wasn't going to leave my and my brother's future in the hands of fate_._ Nor was I going to settle for just anybody who wanted to adopt us_…._So I came up with the idea to do a charity advertisement. I had volunteers from the local theatre troupe help me shoot the thing, and ask for the money. Then I had the tapes distributed to all the major company owners that were having this meeting at Domino Grand Hotel and all the major businessmen who lived in the area, as well as to all the network TV stations, so as not to seem to greedy. I purposely made sure to include a shot of some of the children and myself eating garbage (as we sometimes had to do in order for the younger kids to be properly fed) so that the ad would be deemed to graphic and pulled from the major networks. That way only people who had the money to be worth my time would show up to the orphanage…I know that sounds awful but school isn't cheap, and I wasn't going to let anyone stand in my way._" Kaiba explained. Kaiba paused for a second, shifting uncomfortably in his seat and sighing. "_I also studied the chess strategies of Gozaboro Kaiba from the moment I got into the orphanage; he was my main priority because I knew he'd be the easiest one to bait. The nature of his work made him a prime target of public hatred and anything that could lessen that image, such as chess or adopting cute and smart, little orphans would only help his company further._ _He was also incredibly arrogant, thought he could beat everyone, and never turned down a challenge, no matter the stakes. I knew from the beginning that he'd be my new father. You're supposed to let a person know in chess if you're that big of a fan of theirs, not use the fact that they play public games against them, so in a sense I cheated, but I had to make sure Mokuba and I ended up in that home, like I said I wasn't leaving anything to chance. And its not like I completely cheated, I mean if my stepfather had decided to mix up his strategy instead of underestimating me, he would've won. _ _Anyway, the plan went through without a hitch, and I'm a Kaiba now. But, apparently some of the people I sent those tapes too, kept them. I don't know why they would, I wasn't a threat to anyone yet, I was just a trash digging orphan, but they did. And now Valkner is trying to use it against me._" Kaiba closed his eyes, a headache coming on. Tea was silent on the other end, taking all of the new information in.

"_You're really amazing, you know that_?" Tea asked softly. "_You are the strongest and smartest person I've ever met, to go through everything you've gone through, and still be where and who you are is simply amazing_. _And I wouldn't worry about the tape getting leaked through, if I were you_. _I'm sure your lawyers will be able to stop him, and even if they aren't and everyone finds out about your past, you'll still be just fine. If anything, people will be more impressed with you, I know I am. You're exactly the kind of example I'd want my little kids to have as a role model._"

"_I don't need you to patronize me._" Kaiba hissed. Tea eyes softened on the other end of the phone and she wished he was there, so she could give him a hug.

"_Kaiba it's the truth…_" Tea whispered. Kaiba shook his head in frustration.

"_Nor do I need your pity. I just thought you should know before the tabloids blew it all out of proportion. I was not some helpless victim of circumstance, I wasn't someone who deserved pity, I had control of my own future from the very beginning and I did what I had to survive. I had to be strong for my brother and I regret nothing._"

"_Okay, I understand_." Tea sighed, wishing she could break down those walls and he would just talk candidly about the whole ordeal. But she knew better than to push it or to force him to relive old memories. If had moved on as much as he claimed, who was she to pry? If he hadn't, and he eventually broke down, she silently swore she'd be there to pick up the pieces and that was all she could do. He had to want to talk.

"_Well you're probably really busy, so I'll let you go now._" Tea said, resting her chin in the palm of her hand.

"_Actually I'm not busy at all, I was planning on going to play the piano. There is a dance studio and a bunch of instruments, if you want to come._"

"_Okay, I'll come. You have to have positive thinking right?_" She asked, smiling and standing up out of her seat.

"_Positive thinking_..." Kaiba nodded, though she couldn't see. "_Well, see you in a few minutes._"

"_Bye_." Tea agreed, hanging up the phone. "_Positive Thinking_…" She paused for moment and smiled. "_Positive Thinking_." She reiterated, jogging up the stairs to change.

* * *

"What about this one?" Mai asked, holding up another piece of cheese carefully folded into a white lace napkin. Joey opened his mouth, and Mai fed him a small piece of the cheese.

"I guess its fine." Joey yawned, taking the rest from her and gobbling it down. "I don't know why we just can't go with good old regular Parmesan. There is a reason that all the grocery stores have it back in Japan, its simple, it taste good, and it's reliable…" Joey grumbled. Mai rolled her eyes and turned back to the cheese and wine connoisseur who was shooting Joey an unamused look.

"I don't know it tastes a little too nutty for me, what else have you got?" She asked.

"Well this one is from France, and…" The man began, grabbing another piece from a table where a large selection of single slices of cheese was laid out.

"No." Joey shook his head. "We don't need any fancy shmancy French cheese."

"Joey, behave!" Mai hissed, before turning around and smiling at the man. "Please excuse my fiancés manners he's just a little tired today."

The man turned towards Joey with a sneer of disgust on his face. Not only was the blonde man rude but he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but worst of all he was wearing a jean jacket. He honestly couldn't think of anyone who wore such tasteless attire anymore. Turning back to the radiant, beautiful (appropriately dressed in her long, lavender dress and white shrug) blonde woman the annoying man managed to call his fiancé, for God only knew what reason, he sighed. He fixed a fake, sympathetic smile on his face and turned his attention to another piece of cheese.

"What about this one madam? It's all the way from Japan, it's called Sakura Cheese and it won a gold metal at the Mountain Cheese Olympics in Switzerland." He said, handing her a piece of soft white cheese.

"There is no such thing as a cheese Olympics." Joey muttered under his breath.

"Yes there is, it's held in Appenzell, Switzerland. (a/n: don't own the cheese Olympics, which is a real thing)"

"Joey, please." Mai sighed, turning towards the man. "I'm sorry about that sir, can I try that one?" The man handed her the slice of cheese in a red laced napkin, and Mai tasted it.

"This is one is delicious! What do you think of this one Joey?" She asked. Joey took a bite then shrugged.

"Tastes like cheese."

"What about this one then? This is called Esrom, its Danish." The man sighed, holding up another piece. Mai wrinkled her nose, it didn't smell that good. Tasting it, she moaned and quickly took another bite, her eyes fluttering closed.

"This is good Joey, you have to try it." She exclaimed, handing it to Joey. Joey ate a piece and then shrugged.

"It's fine." Joey growled.

"Hm, I like it because it's kind of sweet and buttery." Mai agreed, thinking. "But it also tastes like it could be eaten in a sandwich with beer…"

"Well, it also goes amazingly well with red wine, mademoiselle." The man replied, walking over to where the wine was. "May I suggest this one?" He asked, cutting her another slice of the cheese. Mai tasted the cheese and took a sip of the wine, spitting the wine back out after swishing it around in her mouth a bit into a bucket.

"I love this it's fancy tasting, but can also be a good beer and sandwich cheese. Kind of like the two of us, right Joey?" Mai asked.

"Whatever, can we go now?" Joey asked, irritably, crossing his arms across his chest. Mai face faltered for a second in irritation before she turned around and smiled at the man.

"We'll take this one, and that wine." Mai replied.

"Are you sure mademoiselle, we have a full selection of red wines."

"Yes, I'm sure. Once I tried it I knew that was the one." Mai nodded. The man smiled.

"Alright then, when your ready just send the numbers from the guest list and we'll talk prices then. Have a good day madam, and I wish you luck in the future." The waiter said bowing and kissing Mai's hand. Mai smiled and curtsied. Then turned towards Joey and grabbed him by the ear, pulling him out of the building.

"Joey Wheeler what is your problem?" Mai yelled as soon they had gotten into the car. Joey said nothing and wordlessly pulled the car keys out of his pocket and stuck them into the ignition. Mai yanked them out before he had a chance to turn the car on and glared at him. Joey turned his head away from her and glared out of the window.

"I don't want fancy cheese, I don't want fine china tea cups, I don't want a big wedding, and I don't want any of this stuff." Joey gritted out.

"Why, because you can't afford any of those things without my help, is that what this is about, again?" She hissed.

"Yes, damn it. You pay my rent, you're paying for the wedding, and you float money my way whenever I'm short and send me all these stupid designer clothes. You are trying to be the man and the woman in this relationship and you're treating me like, like I'm sort of dog or something!" Joey yelled

"I'm just trying to help you! We're supposed to be partners in this life, for better or for worse, until death does us part, that's the vows we're taking that day you know. Are you really that stupid that you can't see that?"

"You say that, but then you don't listen to my opinion on any of this stuff."

"That's because your opinion is always, no."

"I can't afford all these things, and someday you may not be able to either. We don't need all this stupid stuff."

"Well excuse the hell out of me for wanting nice things!"

"Why are you being so superficial?" Joey yelled. "We don't need any of these things, and you should respect the fact I don't want them and live without it. But you can't do that, because you're too selfish to see that by doing all this crap you are robbing me of my rights as a man!"

"Well if you feel that strongly about it maybe we should just call this whole thing off!" Mai yelled.

"Maybe we should." Joey huffed. Mai's eyes widened in hurt, before she turned her head away angrily and stared out of the window.

"Fine!" She hissed, her face red with anger; tears spilling from her eyes from sorrow and confusion. Joey stared straight ahead, gripping the steering wheel so tight his knuckles had turned white and clenching his jaw.

"Fine." He agreed, reaching for the keys. Mai glared and snatched them away from Joey's reach.

"Fine, then get out." Mai growled.

"Mai, you can't honestly expect me to walk back we're really far from Mokuba's mansion, I'll get out when we get back." Joey whispered. Mai turned her head from Joey and let silence be her response. Joey glared at her, before slowly unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out of the car. He turned towards Mai one more time, but as soon as he did she glared down at her shoes. Biting his tongue, Joey got out the car, and slammed the door shut. Mai quickly scooted over to the driver's side, revved up the motor, and peeled off down the road, her middle finger extended out of the window as she left. He watched the car drive off down the road before taking off his jacket and throwing it against the curb angrily. Sitting down on it, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed Tristan's number.

* * *

"_Amazing..!_" Tea gasped, looking at the small studio that had an ivory grand piano with gold trim in the corner. Kaiba nodded.

"_If you're impressed with the room, wait until you hear me play._" Kaiba smirked, lifting the lid that covered the keys and sliding it backwards. Tea laughed and pulled off her coat and placed it inside a set of three reusable large white wooden lockers. She stretched for a couple of minutes as Kaiba sat at the piano and sifted through some of the music he had. Finally deciding to just play whatever came to his mind, as the whole point of playing was to get some things off of his chest, he put the music away. Tea smiled once she saw he was ready and made her way to the center of the room to dance to whatever he decided to play. Kaiba used the opportunity of her back facing him to check her out and smirked, she was wearing a light pink leotard with a low cut back and straps that crossed each other over her back, and a pair of sheer tights, hot pink leg warmers and a pair of ballet shoes completed the look. He briefly wondered if she would be willing to wear that outfit if they ever danced horizontally. He quickly shook the thoughts from his head; he was committed to waiting until he was sure he was going to marry her before doing anything like that. There was just too much risk involved and his character had been called into question far too many times for Kaiba Corp to handle as it was.

Kaiba chuckled wondering what his brother would say to his absolute resolve to being abstinent. Of course he wouldn't understand he'd never met their mother, never seen the shame it could cause a family from one person being too loose with their morals. Kaiba placed his hands on the ivory piano keys and began to play as he thought of the story of how his father and mother first met filled his mind. Kaiba began playing an exciting piece of music that was meant to convey nervousness and Tea began to dance to the music. Her movements hurried and frantic, yet eloquent and calculated as she imagined herself getting ready for a new job; at least this was the music people often used in plays when the character was excited, hopeful and nervous over a new job.

_Kazunori Takekawa put a pair of sunshades on to mask dark blue eyes and stared at himself appraisingly in his bathroom mirror. Combing his short black hair and slipping his trench coat over his tall, muscular frame; he headed out the door of his one room, tiny, unfurnished apartment. He was excited to finally have a job, but a little ashamed of exactly where he was going to work. _ _Walking to the train station he made his way to the red light district of town. He pulled over at a dirty looking strip club and parked at the back. The door to the entrance of the building was rusted and the sticky puddle of trash he had to jump over, and the neon lights that should've read 'girls, girls, girls!' now read girl, almost made him want to turn around and leave. But after picturing himself getting evicted from an unfurnished apartment with no heat he turned the knob and went inside anyway. _

The music Kaiba was playing became slower and more sensual and Tea adjusted her movements accordingly. If Kaiba had looked up he would've noticed her dipping low, her movements more sensual, but never stripper-like, but he was too immersed into the music, his eyes closed. If Tea's wasn't so focused on her dancing, and using the beat and rhythm of the music to become one with Kaiba's heart and feelings, she would've noticed he wasn't paying any attention to her what so ever, would've noticed how risqué her moves were, and may have even become embarrassed. But she didn't the story in the music was too important, so she danced.

_The first thing he noticed was the lack of people in the strip club as one of the dancers slid down a pole upside down. Turning his attention away from the dancers he headed over to the bar tender. _

"_Happy Hour doesn't start for another hour, so you better be prepared to pay full price._" _The man immediately replied._

"_Um, actually I'm here to see the manager about the new security job." Kazunori stated nervously, taking off his sunglasses and bowing slightly. The man didn't return the bow and instead shouted over his shoulder that the new bodyguard had arrived. A fat, balding man came over to him and looked him up and down. _

"_You'll do, follow me." The man muttered; blowing smoke in Kazunori's face from the cigar he was facing. _

"_Yes sir!" Kazunori nodded and bowed politely. The man rolled his eyes and motioned for him to follow._

"_First off none of the yes sir, no sirs crap. The name's Fuwa, remember that._"

"_Yes, Mr. Fuwa._"

"_This is the backstage area, you don't go back here unless I say so, got it. This is the lady's dressing rooms, don't let anyone back here. This is the VIP room; make sure you always keep tabs on the girls that go in there. If someone tries to stiff them, make them pay. And remember that you don't nothing about what happens in the VIP room, got it?_"

"_Don't tell anyone what goes on in that room, gotcha."_

"_No, you don't know what goes on in that room, you go in but you don't see nothing, break that rule and I'll blow your brains out got it."_

_Kazunori's smile faltered, but he nodded. "I understand, Mr. Fuwa."_

"_This is the break room." Fuwa said opening the door. Inside, was a woman already stretched out on one of the couches. She was wearing a mini skirt and a baby tee shirt and a pair of thigh high boots and had on fake cat ears. "Oh for goodness sake, Kitten what the heck are you still doing in here, your break ended ten minutes ago, go get ready for your act."_

_Kitten sat up and flicked her long brown hair over her shoulder. Taking a drag from a cigarette, she blew a couple of smoke rings and examined Kazunori with discerning storm grey eyes._ _Kazunori's eyes widened, she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen._

Kaiba's music became faster, and sweeter, causing Tea's heart to race. This was a song of passion and love. She adjusted the rhythm in her steps as she tried to remember the first time she fell in love, using the feeling as inspiration she swayed to the rhythm in the music.

"_Who's the new guy?" Kitten asked crossing over to where Kazunori was standing. _

"_The new bouncer." Fuwa answered._

"_This is the new bouncer?" She asked amusement twinkling in her eyes._

"_Takekawa Kazunori madam, pleased to make your acquaintance."_

"_Madam?" She laughed. "There ain't no madams around here."_

"_All women deserve respect in my book Miss Kitten. You're no different." _

_Kitten laughed for a second and then took another slow drag from the cigarette. Smiling she stood on her tiptoes so she could whisper in his ear. _

"_You're too sweet for this business kid, get out while you can." She whispered, her eyes glancing to the side so she could see his reaction. _

"_All right you met the new guy, now get a move on you're on in fifteen…" Fuma huffed._

"_See ya later." She purred, winking at Kazunori before sashaying off. _

Kaiba's music switched to a far more sinister and ominous tone and Tea paused for a second, before swaying again to the beat of the music. She imagined herself as one of the many horrible people she had encountered in her life.

"_Get back here you fat Son of a Bitch and pay me the money you owe me!" Kitten yelled; bursting out the VIP room clad only in a red velour bed sheet._

"_I don't pay for bad service." An obese, balding man shouted at her, storming out of the room._

"_Kitten doesn't give poor service buddy. It's not my fault you're too fat to do anything properly, now give me my money!" She shouted back. Kazunori heard the commotion and walked over to the man._

"_What seems to be the problem?" He asked lowering his voice to sound gruff._

"_You're little whore was bad in bed, and I'm not paying for that shit." The man sneered, baring his yellow teeth. Kazunori's eyes widened and he turned toward Kitten, suddenly realizing what the VIP room really was. She turned her head away from him, her face red. She didn't know why she suddenly felt bad about being a 'pleasure specialist' but she did. Her eyes widened and she yelled out in surprise when she saw a glint of silver in the man's hands._

The music was frantic now, more forceful. Tea's adjusted her moves accordingly.

"_Look out!" She called, as the man lunged at Kazunori with the knife. _The music rose sharply. _Kazunori however just glanced at the man boredom etched on his face as he easily sidestepped the man's action and catching the man's arm brought his knee into sharp contact with his gut. _The music evened out and he picked up pace again, the fight had begun_. The attacker fell to the ground and then got up quickly, slashing at Kazunori. Kazunori however easily blocked the moves, dodging the last one by crouching low and then simultaneously bringing his fist back up and upper cutting the man in the jaw. The guy stumbled backwards for a second then let out a growl and lounged at him, he seized the opportunity to grab a the man's hand that held the knife and twisted behind his back, and soon as he hit the floor he stepped on the man's upper back causing excruciating pain to shoot through the man's arm._

"_Let me go!" The man yelled, now terrified. "What the hell are y…"_

"_Apologize to the lady." Kazunori said calmly._

"_Screw that whore…" The man on the ground seethed, before screaming as Kazunori applied a small amount of pressure on the man's wrist causing searing pain to shoot through his arm._

"_Apologize or you won't have an arm." He reiterated. _

"_Sorry." The man spat, before Kazunori applied more pressure causing him to scream._

"_Apologize correctly."_

"_I don't know what…" The man began._

"_Say, I'm sorry ma'am." Kazunori cut him off, "when speaking to a woman."_

"_That ain't a woman that's a whore…" The man began, before Kazunori began applying pressure. "Ah, ow, okay, okay. I'm sorry ma'am!" _

_Kazunori released his hold and picked up the knife from the ground. "I'll be confiscating this as punishment, now pay her, her money." He said, twirling it around and sheathing the knife. The man took the money out his wallet and handed to her, then stared at her expectantly as she counted it._

"_My change…?" He snapped. Kazunori stepped towards him and the man shook his head._

"_On second thought, keep it." The man yelled, running away. She stared at the dirty, pocket lint covered money and then up at Kazunori. _

"_You didn't have to do that newbie, I can handle myself." She frowned, staring up at him. _

"_It didn't look like you were handling it to me." He stated evenly._

"_Well I could've, eventually. Besides I deal with jerks like him all the time, you can't beat them all up."_

"_Then why do you do it?" He asked. She glared at him for a second, before biting her tongue and nodding, keeping her answer in check. Reaching up to the dresser next to her she grabbed a cigarette out of a foil package and lit it. Kazunori watched her take a deep drag from the cigarette and blow out all of her tension as smoke filled the air. _

"_Why does anyone do anything?" She coyly asked her after a moment._

"_You don't have to live like this."_

"_And what else am I supposed to do, I have no education, no skills, this is the only thing I'm good at! So unless some knight in shining armor swoops in and rescues me from work then this is what I have to do to put food on my table. At least I have a job." _

"_You call this a job? This is… this is disgusting. You're no better than those women out in the streets. Just because you do it under neon lights doesn't make you any better than them. The only person doing this to you is you. Why can't you see that? All the evil men that come into this place and you just…"_

"_Su-pah-ma-n." Kitten mocked enunciating each syllable. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes as she rested her foot on the walls and took another drag of her cigarette._

"_What?"_

"_Sees the world in black and white, good and evil, goes around trying to save women from crime and thinks he's a big shot because he beats up some cowards. You are Superman; all you need is the red cape." _

_Kazunori stared at her for a moment, wrapped in the red velour sheets and smirked, deciding on impulse that he was going to marry the woman in front of him one day._

"_Damn right." He said, closing the distance between them and capturing her mouth with his. She pulled back and stared at him in shock._

"_What are you.."_

"_You're my girlfriend now, I've decided." He answered. She glared at him for a second._

"_What, so are you going to rescue me now? Save me from myself?" Kitten laughed. Kazunori pushed a strand of brown hair out of her stormy gray eyes._

"_Mm. Something like that." He answered, kissing her again. Kitten rolled her eyes but deepened the kiss. She highly doubted he could save her from a situation she didn't need saving from in the first place, but there was nothing wrong with letting him try. _

The music sped up and Tea sensed the franticness, the urgency in it. Something big was happening.

"_This baby is coming now!" Kitten yelled._

"_It can't come now; we're on Fuma's boat!" Kazunori yelled. "We stole it, how are we supposed to get away with this if it's stolen. Besides I can't even get back to shore!" He yelled as he was tossed to the other side of the room. He landed against the other end of the wall and tried to stand shakily. His eyes widened as a dresser came flying toward him and he jumped to dodge it. The dresser slammed into the wall and shattered into tiny pieces. Kazunori looked at the damage and sighed with relief. _

"_What are we going to do?" Kitten screamed. _

"_I don't know!" Kazunori yelled. _

"_We're going to die aren't we? This was such a stupid idea; we should never have stolen Fuma's boat." She cried out._

"_I never even learned your real name!" Kazunori yelled out as a flash of lighting colored the sky and a few seconds later a crack of thunder was heard, drowning out his words._

"_What?" She called out._

"_I said I never even learned your real name!" Kazunori yelled, trying to claw his way back over to her as the boat pitched in the storm._

"_It's Natsumi, Natsumi Takamura!" Kitten yelled as she made her way over to him. _

"_Marry me!" Kazunori yelled over the storm, just as he clasped his hand in hers and gripped the large stripping pole attached to the ceiling._

"_Okay!" She agreed_

"_I love you Natsumi Takamura!" Kazunori yelled over the storm._

"_I love you too!" Natsumi screamed, before crying out in pain. "Ah, this baby is coming now!" _

"_It can't do that!" Kazunori panicked, Kitten tried to tell him off but she felt another contraction and crumbled to the floor. Kazunori rushed to her side not noticing the lamp fly off the table._

"_Look out!" Kitten yelled. Kazunori jumped out of the way of the lamp just in time and landed safely in front of a large bed. Unfortunately this put him straight in the path of an errant strobe light that slammed into his tempo knocking him unconscious, and caused his body to fall into the only available bed. _

_Kitten felt panic seep through her as she tried to rouse Kazunori from his forced slumber. Unable to she felt another contraction and realized the baby would wait no longer. She also realized she couldn't push Kazunori's injured form off the bed in the room. Narrowing her eyes in determination she opened the door to the top deck. Immediately she felt the strong wind of the storm almost push her over, as the door slammed open behind her. The harsh rain pelted against her skin and her damp hair lashed against her face. Quickly grabbing a cooler that landed near her feet that was full of by now, melted ice she braced her self, crossed her arms in front of her face and began to trudge over to the door, her hair and clothing whipping around her, the harsh rain jabbing at her skin and face like tiny needles. Finally she reached her destination and opened the door, the force of the wind causing it to slam into the wall next to her. She carefully walked down the stairs, taking extra measures to assure that she didn't fall and hurt the baby as the boat pitched wildly underneath her. Grabbing a knife and some lingerie from a dresser next to the first dresser she saw, she stepped into a room. The room almost made her want to vomit; the walls were painted like red brick walls with graffiti on them. And the bed was inside a walk-in garbage dumpster. The chain link fence was clattering dangerously, threatening to rip from the walls at a moments notice. It was a recreation of the alley behind the strip club. She turned around to leave but felt a sharp contraction and knew she didn't have time to try going to another room and hoping it was unlocked, she simply had to deal with one of the more perverse fantasy rooms. Getting inside the dumpster, she quick shut the walk- in door and slumped onto the ground. Apparently Fuma had removed the bed. The only comfort was in knowing the thing hadn't ever actually been used for trash. Screaming in pain as she felt the baby coming she prepared for the arduous task of birthing the baby herself._

The music suddenly slowed down and was softer, giving Tea a moment's break. She felt her heart beating in her chest frantically, as though she had just narrowly escaped something drastic. Softly the music started back up, this was a far more happy song. It was full of joy, and pride. She stared at Kaiba but his eyes were closed and his expression unreadable. Lifting an arm eloquently into the air, she resumed dancing. Letting Kaiba's emotions run its course through her body as his melody carried her away.

_Kazunori eyes opened slowly as he surveyed the area around him; someone had trashed his room. Sitting up with a start upon remembering the night's events, he clutched his head as a sharp pain ran through it. His head was throbbing, his headache intense, but that didn't matter for the time being._

"_Kitten, no, Natsumi, where are you?" He asked. When he got no reply, panic began to seep through his system. He quickly ran out the room, which was no longer pitching violently and out into the top deck. The sun was shining and the sea was much calmer. He could hear birds calling out in the distance, and judging by the miracle that he could still see the shore, he surmised they were only a few hours away from shore. He glanced over another door where he swore he could hear a baby's cry. Walking down the stairs he heard soft hushing noises coming from a room next to a knocked over, totally destroyed dresser. Hopping over it he walked into the room but besides some chain link fenced wrapped around a dumpster, he didn't see anything. He was about to leave when he heard a beautiful, light voice waft through the air, that sounded like it was coming from the dumpster. Raising an eyebrow he opened up the door and there was his fiancé singing a lullaby and soothing a small baby boy. The baby had already been birthed, cleaned, and his umbilical cord cut, although he was wrapped in a red lace nightgown. Otherwise though he was clean, his blue eyes half shut. He already had quite a bit of chocolate hair on his head, for a baby. Kitten looked wearily up at Kazunori and smiled. Her dark brown hair clung to her face from a mix of sweat and rain, her clothes were damp and clung to her and she was breathing heavily. Her skin was tinged pink with fever, but she was alive, and had apparently given birth all by herself._

_Kazunori cautiously approached her and knelt beside her, pushing her hair out of her face. "What's his name?" He asked. _

"_I decided I like Seto." She replied. "…After the Egyptian god of chaos. But the characters aren't going to be bastardized katakana. Besides, my father is from Kyushu…" _

"_Seto? I thought we were set on Mokuba." _

"_I promise we'll name the next one that. This one felt like he needed something special though. Something that suits his birth, ya know. Little guy hasn't been on this earth for twenty-four hours yet and already he's managed to turn my life in to complete and utter chaos." She laughed. _

"_Good point." Kazunori agreed. "I like it."_

"_So what are the characters for his name going to be?" She asked him. Kazunori eye's widened; surprised she was letting him choose. _

"_How about Se is written like the character for rapids or current, like this ocean's waters. And To as in person, so he can be knocked back down to Earth when he finds out he was named after a god!" (1)_

"_Yes, I like it." Natsumi nodded. She turned towards her new baby and smiled at it, watching as he slept peacefully oblivious to the world around it. "You hear that Seto, To as in person, so don't be thinking you're a god just cause your named after one, I see that twinkle in your eye." She teased the newborn, knowing full well it couldn't comprehend anything she was saying or even hear any of it for that matter._

The music shifted again. This time it shifted to a tune that seemed to indicate high rollers at the casino. Tea smiled and began fox trotting, swaying her hips and imaging herself winning big in Las Vegas, Nevada.

"_I can't believe some of the things people throw away in this city!" Kitten announced setting a small child of two onto a long slab of gray marble counter. Kazunori nodded wiping away the blood from his butcher knife. _

"_What's in the bag?" He asked. A broad smirk crept its way onto Kitten's face._

"_Tonight, it's Seto's turn to eat out of the garbage." She whispered conspiratorially. _

"_I thought we agreed that we would spend all of the food money on Seto." Kazunori frowned. "No son of mine eats garbage. It's not his fault that all of the money not spent on bills goes to paying off Fuma's boat. We should be the only ones to suffer."_

"_I agree, but it won't be suffering. This woman apparently decided to become a housewife and make all of her kid's food from scratch. So she threw out a ton of processed food, most of it is stuff specifically formulated for toddlers. She didn't even bother putting it in the dumpster! She put it all in a bag next to a dumpster. Some of it was baby food though, so I let this homeless woman with a newborn have that. Anyway, all of it is brand new, look!" Kitten explained, opening the bag. Kazunori eyed it skeptically._

"_None of it was in the dumpster?"_

"_Would I lie to you?"_

"_No…"_

"_And since this will easily feed Seto here for the rest of the week, I figured we could use the money we normally use on him, on ourselves!" She exclaimed, as Seto grabbed some powder for gravy off a rack on the counter and began examining the package. _

"_Okay…I've been craving a teriyaki burger for the longest." Kazunori smiled. _

"_Get your butt in here Takekawa, stupid idiot!" Kazunori's manager yelled. _

"_Yes sir!" Kazunori yelled, running into the backroom. He noticed it was incredibly dark in the room and raised an eyebrow. His manager was standing next to a step ladder with his arms folded across his chest._

"_Change that light bulb!" He demanded. Kazunori looked up at the light bulb dangling dangerously from a wire on the ceiling. _

"_All right sir, just let me get a mop and dry the floor." _

"_The mops are in the storage closet, the storage closet is in the cellar, you can't find the door to the cellar without the lights!" The manager barked. Kazunori eyed the wet floor suspiciously worried the ladder would slip from under him. "Do it now!"_

"_Yes sir!" Kazunori replied shakily, before swallowing the lump rising in his throat and walking over to the ladder cautiously. The ladder slid underneath him a little bit, and Kazunori steadied himself shakily. He reached up to change the light bulb, when the ladder wobbled underneath him. Kazunori breathed out a sigh of relief when he didn't fall and grabbed the light bulb and changed it. However as he was changing it the ladder almost slid underneath him, and he reached up on instinct, grabbing the wire the light bulb was attached too. When he still had not fallen to the ground, he relaxed a little and was about to jump down when a power surge ran its way through the building. Kazunori, who was still standing on the metal stepladder and holding the wire, was shocked and he went tumbled to the ground, his head hitting concrete. His whole world became black._

"_Shit!" Kazunori's manager exclaimed, his pale, sickly looking face becoming paler. He quickly ran out of the room and grabbed the phone. Kitten looked up from where she'd been listening to her toddler struggle through reading a book and telling him what different words were that he didn't understand. _

"_What's going on?" She asked the manager. The manager ignored her however, and quickly called for an ambulance. _

"_Hey tell me what's going on or I'll break ring your scrawny neck!" Kitten threatened, grabbing the thin man by his collar and pulling him down to her eye level. _

"_It's Takekawa…" The manager demanded._

"_What's going on is he hurt?" Kitten asked panicked her eyes widening. The manager quickly pulled away from her and ran off into the back room. Kitten stood in numb shock for a moment, torn between running to Kazunori's aid; and making sure Seto was safe and unharmed._

"_Good Afternoon Madam." A man with sleeked back hair and a business suit on said, tapping her on the shoulder. She looked at him in irritation._

"_I can tell your suffering quite a bit here. And while I don't know the extent of your husband's injuries, I am willing to bet that if an ambulance needed to be called they could put you behind in your bills."_

"_Who the heck do you think you are?" She hissed._

"_Is that your boy? He's reading at such a young age." He said watching Seto struggle with a word._

"_Cat-catty-cattpil…" Seto sounded out, confused. The man walked over to him and looked at the book he was reading._

"_The word is caterpillar." The man supplied. _

"_What's a caterpillar?" Seto asked._

"…_A baby butterfly"_

"_Oh, okay. The caterpillar is fat. Look at the caterpillar, see how he wig, wigg…" _

"…_wiggles." The man offered again. Seto smiled and stared at the word, committing it to memory._

"_See how he wiggles." He said, turning the page. _

"_You're kid is amazing, and so cute." The man said, ruffling Seto's brown hair. Kitten watched him suspiciously._

"_Look, I'm going to cut right to the chase. I've seen you at Fantasies; I know what you do for a living." He replied. Kitten face faltered for a moment, before her eyes narrowed._

"_Get to the point pervert; you're starting to piss me off." _

"_Right, well you are a stripper and your husband is a butcher. You both work jobs that make you society's outcasts. Yet your hardworking, good looking people; with a smart and adorable baby…I'm also guessing you are a half correct." _

"_My mother was an American, from Hawaii, what of it?" She asked angrily, not liking where things were going one bit._

"_Well, I couldn't help but overhear that you also are forced to eat garbage. In short, you two are pathetic, hardworking, good looking, and pathetic. But we live in more a socially conscious Japan. People are shamed at the way people like you were treated in the past, and will sympathize with you. Further more you have a cute little toddler here. It would be better if he was a baby, but he's cute so that helps. I can definitely get you some money, if of course it was your husband's boss's fault that he got injured. Pain and suffering, reckless endangerments are just some of things you can sue for." The man said, pulling out his business card. Kitten took the card in both hands, and glanced at it for a second. The words Kuwano was inscribed in gold lettering in both English and Japanese._

"_How about it madam, are you feeling a little traumatized." He asked. Just then the ambulance arrived and within no time Kazunori's unconscious form was lifted onto a stretcher, a glint shone in Kitten's eyes and a smirk crept onto her lips._

"_Very…" Was her one word answer, and winking at the lawyer she grabbed her baby and went to tend to her husband. She may not have been able to wring her husband's manager's neck but she sure as heck would make him pay. "Oh and my boy is more than just cute, I think he may be a genius, he's been reading like that since he was nine months old." She added over her shoulder haughtily, she didn't know why, but she just wanted him to know that her son was more than just a cute face._

Kaiba's music became suddenly much older fashioned. It was macho and cool and made shivers of excitement run through Tea's spine. Tea suddenly felt like she was a ninja, or a samurai cutting down her powerless foes. Her dance adjusted accordingly.

"…_Neutron Blast!" Seto shouted, knocking over a bunch of toy soldiers. He held a white dragon plushy in his hands that had blue buttons for eyes. The black eyes that the dragon had come with had long since fallen off, and the dragon looked worse for the wear, but for some reason he loved it a million times more that way. He didn't know why, but when the plastic, shiny blue buttons had been sewed onto the raggedy toy by his mother it suddenly took on more life than it ever had before, and it had become his favorite toy._

"_Err, you'll pay for that." Kazunori growled, deepening his voice and snarling. He raised the arm of the crimson colored ninja he was holding and then shook the toy back and forth as if shaking a fist at the dragon._

"_You are the one that will pay evil doer!" Seto exclaimed, grabbing a sock and throwing it at his father's toy. Snatching the toy from his father's hand, Seto threw the toy in the air shouting boom in a loud voice._

"_Hey, samurai warriors didn't have bombs." Kazunori teased. _

"_Mine does." Seto said, waving the sock in the air. "See, daddy, it's a bomb."_

The music Kaiba played suddenly became very cheerful and warm. It reminded Tea of the summers she spent at her uncle's house by the pier, playing at the beach, the sand in her toes and the smell of salt water in the air.

"_Nope, you cheated." Kazunori smiled, shaking his head. "I'm going to have to punish you." Seto's eyes widened. _

"_No, Daddy, I'm sorry!" Seto exclaimed backing up._

"_I'm sorry too Seto, but it can't be helped." Kazunori shrugged._

"_Not the claw!" Seto gasped, his four year old frame inching slowly away from his dad. Kazunori's face changed and he deepened his voice, lowering it menacingly._

"_I'm coming to get you Seto." Kazunori exclaimed, his fingers curling up into the shape of the claw. _

"_No stay back, I won't let you do it!" Kazunori exclaimed again. _

"_You have no choice." The "claw" replied._

"_Run Seto!" Kazunori yelled. Seto got up and ran as fast as he could. _

"_Mwu hahaha." The "claw" cackled evilly, before giving chase after Seto. Kazunori easily caught up and grabbed Seto from behind, hauling him up in the air and slinging him over his shoulder. Seto screamed and then giggled as Kazunori plopped him onto the couch._

"_And just what do you think is so funny?" The "claw" asked._

"_Nothing…"_

"_You'll pay for you insolence boy, its time you learned your lesson…" Kazunori began. Seto made one last half hearted effort to get away, but Kazunori pulled him back in, and rolled him over onto his back._

"_Now suffer the punishment boy, tickle torture!" Kazunori exclaimed, using the hand that was the claw to tickle his son mercilessly as Seto laughed and squirmed around. _

"_Boys, dinner is ready!" Kitten's voice came from inside their large kitchen. Ever since Kazunori's manager got them evicted they had been able to not only pay for Fuma's boat, but a lead a much more lavish life than they were used to. They weren't rich, but they certainly lived a better life than most. Kazunori slung Seto over his shoulder, Seto's legs draped over Kazunori's right shoulder and chest. _

"_Wife, I've brought dinner. I found a sweet little boy for us to eat." Kazunori declared._

"_I don't see anyone…" Kitten teased. A toothy grin lit up her features. Kazunori turned around so that his back was facing Kitten and Seto was smiling, eye level with Kitten._

"_Hi, Mom!" Seto laughed, his deep blue eyes twinkling in merriment. Kitten smiled and pretended to take off Seto's nose, wiggling her thumb in between her index and middle finger and then pretended to eat._

"_He is quite sweet, go wash him and we shall have a feast!" Kitten declared, waving the wooden spoon she was using to stir the miso soup with in the air like a scepter._

"_As you wish, empress." Kazunori said, turning around and smiling at her. He snuck a kiss on her cheek while Seto was still slung over his shoulder and now looking at the wall. Then he proceeded up the stairs to help his son wash his hands. When they came back down, Kitten was already sitting in front of the table, the dishes all laid out in porcelain, china bowls._

"_Everything looks so delicious." Kazunori exclaimed, sitting on the opposite end of the table. Seto came into the room and sat down next to him, his face was still a cheery shade of red from laughing so hard. He had stopped in the room and grabbed his dragon. _

"_I shall humbly take your lives, thank you for providing us this meal." (2) Kazunori and Kitten exclaimed at the same time, breaking open their disposable chopsticks; because Kitten hated to do dishes and Kazunori always left stray bits of food, or soap, or some other residue on them. They looked over at their son who hadn't said anything yet and was already wolfing down his food._

"_Where is your manners young man?!" Kitten chastised. Seto looked up at her, blinking a couple of times with his mouth still fool and a piece of rice stuck to his cheek. Gulping down all the food at once he wiped the stray bits of food away._

"_I shall humbly take your lives, thank you for providing us this meal." Seto said quickly, and then he nudged his stuffed animal, and then leaned in real close as if the small dragon was telling him a secret. "Blue says thank you for providing us with this meal too." He announced. A soft smile spread across his mother's features. "And he also wants to know if he can have a dessert too, he's really hungry."_

"_Okay, both you and blue can have one cookie." Kitten agreed. She had always given out two cookies to everyone anyway. "But, you have to agree to read mommy and daddy a story." _

"_Okay." Seto agreed, wondering what new adventure his books were going to take him on._

Kaiba's music became a million times happier; it put a bounce in Tea's step and had her bobbing her head to the music. All formal styles of dancing were thrown out the air; she just danced around, the music was just way too happy to worry about something as formal as ballet. This was the kind of music you danced to when you were alone in your room; everything in the world was going right, and you were too happy to even form a coherent thought, so all you did was crank up the music and dance.

"_School is so boring, I hate preschool!" Seto lamented._

"_Well, school is important though, so even if it's boring, try to get through it anyway." Kazunori said, holding his sons hand as they walked back from his son's first day of school. Seto stopped walking for a second and took off the red baseball cap that was apart of his blue school uniform. He also took off the little red blow tie and threw them onto the street. Kazunori watched as the items were trampled under the wheels of a young man on a shiny, black motorcycle. _

"_Why did you do that Seto?" Kazunori finally asked when Seto sat down in the middle of the sidewalk in a rare display of defiance. Kazunori sighed, when Seto got like that there was no stopping him, he'd literally have to drag him home, because he wasn't moving from that spot until he got his way. He'd tried not giving in one time, at a grocery store, hiding behind the other side of the counter where Seto couldn't see him, but almost ended up getting kicked out because he'd been there for well over an hour, staring at a small child, and not buying anything. The cops would've been called if Seto had been especially defiant and not answered when they asked him if he was really his father. Even at such a young age, he knew what he wanted and he'd stop at nothing to get it. It was admirable and Kazunori could feel he was destined for greatness in his heart and soul, but it could be a pain in the ass when you had a five year old sitting in the middle of the sidewalk refusing to go home. Seto turned his head and refused to look at his father; huffing angrily. Kazunori knelt down to his level, and looked Seto in the face. Seto turned his head in the opposite direction, so Kazunori moved with him. Irritated, Seto buried his face in his arms and rested him onto his knees still refusing to talk._

"_Seto, I can't just pull you out of school. It's against the law. Do you want me to go to jail?" He asked. Seto sniffed and shook his head. "Well then, you're just going to have to deal with it." He insisted. "C'mon now, will you be a big boy, I'll buy you some ice cream, how about cactus, you like cactus ice cream don't you?" Seto still shook his head, refusing to meet his father's eyes._

"_Seto, what's wrong?" He asked, placing his hands on his shoulder. Whatever was wrong with the boy, it was serious. He never refused ice cream, ever. Seto broke down into tears, his face turning red as he looked up into his father's concerned eyes._

"_School is too easy for me. The other kids don't know anything! They don't even really know how to write their names! So when it was recess, I snuck over to the big kid's side because I like learning, its fun. But lately, I haven't been able to learn anything! I thought maybe if I had some big kid's homework, I could prove that I don't need preschool and they could put me with the big kids. But their work is too easy too. I already know my multiplication, I know a lot of things…and…and…" Seto broke down into sobs, unable to continue. Kazunori picked him up and shushed him for a while, rubbing circles into his back, as the boy wrapped his arms around his neck; before setting him back down when the sobbing had broken down to mere hiccups._

"_Now then do you want to tell me what happened?" He asked. Seto glanced down at his backpack, which lay discarded on the ground, forgotten for a brief moment. Seto walked over to it and pulled out a huge stack of papers._

"_The older kids caught me, and when they asked me what I was doing, I told them I just wanted to learn and I didn't mean to mess up their homework. I got all the answers right, so the bigger kids pushed me to ground and made me eat dirt. Then they told me if I didn't do all of their homework, they'd beat me up!" Seto sniffed, showing him all the homework. "They said I was a nerd, and that I was a freak. And when I told the teacher, she told me I had probably just made the other kids feel stupid because I was little and wasn't supposed to know all that stuff. Then she asked me why I even went to that school if I was so freakishly smart. And, and Mari heard and she told everyone I was a freak, and now I'll never have any friends. Everyone hates me; I never want to go to school again!" _

_Kazunori stared at his son for a second, his eyes wide. He'd realized he was smart, but not that smart. Seto looked up at him expecting some kind of reassurance, but his father was just staring at him like he'd grown a third head._

"_I never knew you were so smart…" Kazunori began, "You're IQ, you're IQ is probably higher than mine…" He had whispered, still staring at Seto in disbelief. Seto stared at the ground in embarrassment. He didn't know what an IQ was, but he had feeling children's IQs shouldn't be higher than their parents. His father probably thought he was a freak now too. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he refused to meet his father's gaze._

"_Father…" Seto began, before he was cut off by Kazunori._

"_I'll get you tested." Kazunori cut him off, standing up. Kazunori began to walk off, still in a numb state of shock. His child was genius, and he hadn't known. His child was a genius, and the poverty they lived in prior to the settlement he got after suing the butcher shop, had probably stifled his growth. His child was a genius and even with the money he had left over, it wasn't going to be enough to pay the rent they had on their home, send him to college, and send him to the kinds of special schooling he would need for his gift. His child was a genius, and he was holding him back. Kazunori grew silent in shame as he thought of all the times he and his wife had struggled with simple math in front of him; neither of them had even finished high school. He wondered if Seto knew the answers to those problems, and had simply kept his mouth shut to spare their feelings. Kazunori glared at the ground, his child was a genius, and would probably be better off without either of them. Kazunori sighed, turning to say something to his son and saw he was no longer walking with his held high to the air. He'd latched onto his hand, so he wouldn't get lost, but he was staring at the sidewalk, his face red, his head bowed in shame. He realized that the boy probably had mistaken his silence on the issue save for telling him he needed to be tested, as a sign he was a freak. He wanted to say something to him, anything to him to make him feel better about the issue; but he found his voice had died on his throat. What if the boy thought he was stupid? He felt emasculated. So he closed his eyes and focused on his loving wife whose face always brought him joy; he sighed, wanting badly to cheer up the boy, when he realized he knew what would cheer him up. He'd promised him he wouldn't tell him, but…_

"_You know you're going to be a big brother soon, right?" He asked him. Seto's eyes widened and he stared at his father in surprise._

"_I am?" He said, visibly surprised._

"_Yes, so no matter how many kids tease you in school, you will always have a friend to play your games with. Your mother, your brother or sister, and I will always be by your side Seto."_

"…_Promise?" The boy asked unsure._

"_I promise…" Kazunori agreed, though inwardly he was wondering if he could make a promise like that; especially when he'd be so much better off in another person's home, someone with money. A huge smile graced the young boy's features. And with the promise of a brother, and he was sure it would be a boy just because boys were cooler and his mother and father were always the coolest people in the whole world which meant they couldn't possibly have a girl, all of Seto's problems disappeared. He was going to be a brother, he never felt happier in his life._

Kaiba's music became more frantic and urgent all of a sudden. Tea could feel the desperation seeping through her, something big was going to happen in this concert of Kaiba's memories.

_Five year old Seto had never seen his father smoke before; nor had he ever seen his mother so sick. She was always strong, stronger than his father even. She never got sick, his dad acted like a wimp whenever he had a cold, even though he'd seen his father beat up three guys in black belts so that his father could get yet another black belt at his judo lessons before, but every time he got a cold, he turned into a complete and total wimp. His mother hadn't even needed to learn how to fight, all she had to do was cast a single glare at a person and they'd do what she told them to do. Yet here they were at the hospital, his father was smoking cigarette after cigarette even though he'd never smoked before, and his mother was sick. _

"_Dad, I thought we were here because the baby was coming?" Seto questioned, that was what his father had told the teacher anyway._

"_He is Seto; there are just a few problems. That's all." Kazunori reassured. _

"_Is mommy going to be okay?" Seto asked cautiously, feeling as though his father wasn't telling him something important. _

"_Yes. She is. She's too strong to let something like this get the best of her; you wouldn't believe the story of your birth." Kazunori replied, stumping out the cigarette on the hard concrete outside and lighting another cigarette. He walked back inside the building, and then back outside the building, they automatic door making whooshing noises every time he made even the slightest move. "Of course she's going to be okay. She has to be." _

_They waited for hour, after painstaking hour. Kazunori's sudden smoking habit had relegated them to a waiting room, and as they watched people clutching bandaged bloody hands, people coughing, the occasional stretcher whizzing by in a flurry of panic and urgency, and they smelled the strange combination of antiseptics, the waiting became more and more unbearable._

"_Sir, I'm afraid I have some good news and bad news." _

"_What's the bad news, please tell me you lost the baby but my wife is doing okay!" Kazunori blurted out. The doctor's eyes widened. "Please." Kazunori reiterated his voice cracking. "The baby, it was an accident, we didn't try to get pregnant, and it was an accident. She can't…I need her." _

"_Actually, just the opposite sir…I am so sorry." _

"_I knew it! I fucking knew it! Everyone I love dies, I was only thirteen when my parents died, my sister, my aunt, my dog, my wife…I can't…I can't take it anymore." Kazunori collapsed to the ground and cried, tears streaming down his face. He hadn't even noticed that his son had been standing next to him. He didn't notice anything anymore. The whole world was slipping away from him. Seto looked at his father for a moment, fighting back his own tears._

"_Ignore him, take me to my brother." He finally said, calming down. "Also, is my mother dead yet, or can we still say goodbye?" He asked. The doctor stared at the young boy so grown._

"_She's still alive, but she won't make it through the night. You should both say goodbye to her while you can."_

"_Dad, did you hear that, we can still say goodbye, now come on." Seto said shaking his father's form as best as he could. Kazunori wiped the tears from his face._

"_Dad…" He whispered to himself, he looked over at his son and stood up from the ground. He'd forgotten Seto was there, he'd forgotten Seto existed. But that one little word had snapped him out of it, he was still a Dad, now nothing more than a Dad, his children depended on him, and that was all the reason he needed to stand up and keep moving. Grabbing his son's hand, he gave it a squeeze and led them numbly to the room where his life lay dying. When he opened the door he saw Kitten's hair was sticking to her face, and she was running a high fever. He had expected to see wires attached to her everywhere, but there were was only a single heart monitor. She had a serene look on her face and she cradled her new baby in her arms. She looked over at him and a glimmer in her eyes made him pause, a sexy and determined look drew across her features. She turned away from him and her eyes turned towards Seto. She extended an arm towards him; he quickly ran from his place at the door and climbed into it, bursting into tears on her shoulder. _

"_Mommy, please don't go…" Seto began._

"_I'm not going anywhere Seto. I'll always be right here." She said, pointing toward his heart. She held both her boys for a moment, stroking Seto's hair and trying to calm him down._

"_Seto, honey, will you be a dear and take your brother and this money and buy me something from the cafeteria. The nurse is standing outside behind the big circular desk, give the baby to her." She asked him suddenly, reaching into her sparkly pink purse that sat haphazardly on the bed stand next to her and fishing out two crisp 1000 yen notes. Seto nodded and grabbed the baby, holding him carefully, and left the room. He paused behind the door, rooted to the spot. The nurse spotted him and quickly took the new baby from his arms; Seto numbly went to go find food._

"_Kazunori…" Kitten said softly, reaching her hand out to him._

"_Natsumi…" He began, walking over to her slowly, tears following down his face. "I'm going to find a doctor, and you'll be fine…" He voice cracked, he couldn't bear to lose anyone anymore. He stopped just short of her bed._

_Kitten closed her eyes and let out a soft smile. "Come here, su.pah.ma.n." She said softly enunciating each character the way she had so many years ago, her eyes twinkling. Kazunori closed the gap in between him. She ran her fingers in through his hair, before pulling him towards him and kissing him. Kazunori quickly pulled away._

"_Should we be doing this?" He asked her. She nodded, her eyes blazing with determination. _

"_Of course, I decide how die." She insisted, kissing him again. Kazunori climbed into the hospital bed with her, holding her closely, and kissing her, his eyes roaming every inch of her body, remembering every dip and line, every curve. He inhaled the scent of her, and she looked up at him confused._

"_What are you…?" she questioned._

"_I never want to forget." He interrupted, staring into her eyes. Her storm gray eyes widened and soft smile graced her features. _

"_Shiseido, white rose…" she muttered._

"_What?"_

"_Shiseido, white rose is the name of the perfume I'm wearing…" She answered. _

"_You're wearing perfume? I thought you used some different kind of soap." Kazunori asked, scrunching his eyebrows._

"_No, it's perfume. I know most people don't wear perfume, you're supposed to just admire the bottles, but my mother, she was American, and…I can't bear to waste it." Kitten replied. Kazunori smiled and kissed her again, desperately, he loved this woman so much and the fact that she couldn't bear to waste something as silly as perfume made him love her even more. (3)_

"_I'll spray it on my pillow everyday." He told her seriously._

_Kitten reached up and cupped his chin, searching his eyes for something. "Kazunori, I love you so much, promise you'll never forget me." _

"_Never, you're my one and only…" Kazunori said shaking his hands. Kitten eyebrows furrowed, she didn't want him to forget her, but she didn't want him to be unhappy._

"_But…" she began to protest._

"_You're my only wife, I've decided." Kazunori said firmly, cutting off anymore protests she might've had with a kiss. Tears ran down her eyes and she looked up at her husband where she lay next to him, he was propped up on his elbow, lying next to her, and staring into her eyes. He reached over and wiped away her tears._

"_Kazunori, I want you to be happy. Maybe, one day, you should remarry…" She tried again._

"_No. I could never be happy if I remarried, no other woman can possibly satisfy me, because they wouldn't be you." He insisted, kissing her again. "Besides, I'll be happy being a proud father, as long as I have my children, and your memory, I can never be unhappy." _

_Kitten reached up and smoothed Kazunori's hair out of his eyes, and then kissed him again. Seto came into the room, holding a candy bar as carefully as head held the baby. _

The music became a solemn dirge.

"_What do you got there sweetheart?" Kitten asked him._

"_It's your favorite…" Seto answered, handing Kitten the chocolaty treat. She smiled, and Seto buried his face in the crook of her arm, Kazunori laid down next to kitten as well, an arm draped protectively around her. _

"_I love you, always." He whispered._

"_Mm, you're so warm…" Kitten replied, drifting off to sleep. "Kazunori, Seto, Mokuba; please don't forget about me…" She whispered. Kazunori kissed her on the lips and Kitten smiled, her eyes fluttering closed for the last time._

Tea stopped as the music suddenly came to a halt. She saw Kaiba grab a pen, and grab a small blue notebook from inside the piano seat. There notebook was nondescript; save for the fact that it was old and the pages had begun to yellow, yet somehow it seemed incredibly important. There was no hint of emotion on his face, but Tea could tell by the lump in his throat that he was repeatedly trying to swallow, he was holding something back. He then carefully closed the notebook, stuck the pen back in his interior coat pocket and placed the notebook next to him. His fingers traced the cover of it for a moment; his eyes fogged over from being lost in thought, before he closed his eyes and placed his fingers back on the keys. Tea closed her eyes and waited for the music to start, when it did the music was soft at first but then he suddenly flipped the switch and Tea suddenly felt as though she were a powerful samurai warrior brandishing a large sword.

"_Give it back, or else." Seto yelled at one of the boys who had taken a piece of candy from a much smaller girl. One of the boys was at least twice his size, he didn't particularly care for the girl, nor did she have that much candy left, but he'd been angry at the world that day and had decided (unconsciously) to misplace some of his aggression._

"_Or else what…? You little punk!" One of the older boys sneered; he was the biggest, and clearly the leader of the small group of three. He had on a leather jacket and slicked back blue hair. His hair was tied into a pony tail at the top, and was greasy and the sides of hair had been shaved. Next to him was a scrawny blonde boy with brown eyes and a disinterested look. To the blonde boys left there was a boy with spiky red hair. _

"_Aw, just give it to her Hirutani, these two aren't worth our time. That little girl is like four and that little boy is a skinny little shrimp!" The blonde boy yawned, peaking at Seto with one eye. _

"_Wheeler, shut your mouth, I'm the boss of this group, got it." The blue haired teen yelled back, dropping the candy on the ground._

"_Whatever you say… boss monkey." Wheeler teased. _

"_Shut your mouth! Prove you're a man and beat that kid up." Hirutani yelled, pointing at Seto. Seto growled and didn't give the blonde a chance to move, instead tackling him to the ground and punching him in the face. Wheeler became red in the face with anger and the two kids took to wrestling. They were quickly broken up however by a teacher who hauled Seto off the ground by his blue jacket and glared at the kid known as Wheeler, stopping him in his tracks._

"_You thugs get out of here." He ordered, the three boys ran off quickly, before the teacher decided to call the police. The teacher narrowed his green, severe eyes and glared at Seto before dropping him unceremoniously unto the ground._

The music suddenly became darker, much more sinister.

"_I'm so grateful you're moving to Hokkaido. Do the world a favor brat, and get eaten by a bear." The man spat, walking away from Seto. The little girl looked over at him and then at the teacher. Not really knowing what to do in the situation, but figuring the boy in front of her must be bad since everyone was so mean to him, she quickly muttered a red face thank you, grabbed her candy and left Seto behind on the ground. Seto stared at the grass for a moment before seeing a lone cherry blossom flower fluttering in the breeze. He grabbed the cherry blossom and crushed it in his small, seven year old hands. _

"_You think you got away that easily?" He heard the blue haired boy's voice ask him from behind. He'd come back, this time with five or six of his friends. Seto tried to back up but they grabbed him by his legs and dragged him back over to the group. Seto punched the one that had grabbed him in the face, causing his nose to bleed. His victory however was short lived as he grabbed from behind by two thugs and his arms were twisted behind his back. His legs were held by two more boys. Hirutani smirked and punched Seto, who was a good two years younger than him in the stomach as hard as he could, causing him to cough up blood. Seto fell to his knees and the other two boys roughly shoved him to the ground, Hirutani placed a boot on the back of his head, forcing his face into the mud. _

"_Now, Now, what should we do with him?" Hirutani muttered, scratching his chin._

"_Well whatever it is, can we just do it, I have to take a wicked leak…" complained one of the boys as he hopped up and down._

"_That's what we'll do…" Hirutani exclaimed, snapping his fingers, a sadistic smirk spreading across his features. "Snake go ahead and take a leak, right here." He said lifting his boot off of Seto. Seto quickly got up, but was shoved back down again by another boy._

"_Right where, boss, I don't see a toilet…" _

"_Right here!" Hirutani said again, pointing at Seto's face. Seto stiffened and then struggled to get free. _

"_I don't know boss…" Snake stiffened._

"_No way, that's going a little too far!" Wheeler exclaimed, stepping into the center of the kids and shielding Seto._

"_Its either you or him, I don't have any mercy for someone who turned their back on family for some stupid kid." _

"_You're not my family."_

"_What other family do you got?" Hirutani smugly asked Wheeler. "Word on the street is your mom and dad fight all the time, they don't care about you, they just care about killing each other!" _

"_You're wrong, I'm out of here." Wheeler dismissed, sticking his hands in his pockets and walking off. He huffed and walked off, making a resolve to never talk to them again._

"_You'll come crying back when your parents get a divorce!" Hirutani yelled back. "And it'll be your entire fault, because you turn your back on your family!"_

"_My parents won't get divorced Hirutani so screw you, I don't want to play with you anymore…"_

"_Should I go after him boss?" Snake asked._

"_Tch, he'll be back. In the meantime let's deal with this stupid idiot!"(4) Hirutani smirked. One of the boys took of a roll of duct tape using it tie up Seto's arms and legs, and was about to gag him when Hirutani stopped him. "How can it get in his big fat mouth if it's covered? This'll teach him to keep that trap of his shut, for good."_

"_But what if he screams?" The boy asked._

"_Don't worry he won't, if he knows what's good for him." Hirutani replied. The boy shrugged and tossed the duct tape to the side, stepping into the circle of boys that had surrounded Seto._

"_Are you ready men?!" Hirutani shouted, unzipping the fly of his pants. "Then, Ready, Aim, Fire!"_

Kaiba's eyes snapped open and the music cut away completely. Tea stared over at Kaiba because it was now the second time he had stopped. She briefly wondered if he was thinking about Gozaboro, his stepfather. Kaiba closed his eyes and picked up the music again this time the music was heartbreakingly lonely.

_Seto stared up into the full moon as rain violently pelted his head. He was lying on his back, the hands that were still tied to his back beginning to feel numb. The overwhelming stench from before was now gone, but it had been gone for awhile now and he was starting to feel numb all over from how cold he was. His lip trembled and his body shook, not from sobs, he couldn't cry anymore, but from the numbing coldness that had enveloped his whole body. He wondered if this was how he was going to die. It wasn't really fair, he was only seven, he'd had already lost his mother, but then again, he surmised, life didn't really seem fair. Not anymore, at least. The flashlight that had been casting a pale glow against his body finally flickered out, leaving only the light of the moon to cast a glow on his pale features. _

"_No one is going to find me now." Seto whispered, turning his face away from the moon and looking over at a bug. There was a cicada, dead lying next to him. He had crushed it when he had been rolling around earlier, struggling to get free. Hirutani and his gang at left him here, in a wooded, secluded area not far from the school; apparently it hadn't been enough to utterly humiliate him, they had to leave him to die like that too. They had even used handcuffs and ropes to make his bonds tighter, more indestructible. Then they had tied him too a tree. Snake had come back, he had untied him from the tree, and left him a flashlight, he'd even helped him relieve himself well away from the area he was currently at and fed him. But he hadn't untied him, he'd told him he had to let him die because Hirutani had told them they were supposed to let him die, but Hirutani had never said he'd had to die so uncomfortably, so Snake had figured he could at least do that for him. He'd asked Snake why he even had to listen to Hirutani, what gave Hirutani the right to decide who lived and who died. Snake had shrugged and said he was the boss and that was just the way it was. _

_That had been two days ago, and Seto had never felt lonelier in his life. His stomach growled and he did his best to ignore it, instead focusing on the helpless little cicada that had been powerless to stop itself from being crushed. He hated that cicada. He hated Snake, far more than he hated Hirutani. He hated weakness; it was weakness that had gotten him into this mess. Weakness was the reason he couldn't die here, or his two year old little brother would be the one to suffer. His dad had explained to him that he'd run away from home, but hadn't had any furniture before he met Kitten, which meant he was incapable of performing the simplest tasks. He always left soap scum on the dishes. He always forgot when the trash man was coming. He always burnt the food, and he always forgot to vacuum under the couch. But worst of all, he always forgot to carry the one. This meant his banking account always had less money in it than he thought it would, he always overspent, because he always forgot to carry the one. His father was trying his best, but that wasn't good enough, not any more. If this was what weakness got him, then he'd simply have to step up and take over those tasks himself. Maybe then his father would get over his mother's death and learn how to do something besides play with Mokuba, order take out, and cry. It'd been almost two years already!_

"_Idiot…" He muttered angrily to himself. He refocused his attention on the dead cicada, its wing was detached and its body smashed. He blew on it, trying to get away from him. He didn't want to look at it, it disgusted him. When he couldn't blow it away from him, he rolled away from it. He just couldn't bear to be next to it anymore, he wanted to get all forms of weakness away from him, and it was making him sick. He heard something rustling and hoped it was the cops. Instead, a drunken homeless man stumbled out of the woods, his clothing was tattered and he had a beer bottle in his hands, ages of dirt were caked onto his face, and his nails were chipped and yellowing. He walked over toward Seto, stopping and rubbing his eyes at the sight of the young boy._

"_Hey, old man, help me out over here!" Seto called out upon realizing the man was already coming towards him anyway. The man looked at Seto for a moment, and then reached into his pants pocket, and took his lunch money. It wasn't even a lot, but the man took it anyway. Seto wrinkled his nose, the man smelled strongly of sake and booze. He flashed a gummy smile at Seto, what little teeth he did have were dark yellow, with dark stains of something, probably dirt, on them._

"_A little boy as cute as you shouldn't be out here alone." The man said, a lecherous grin spreading across his features. "Boy, don't you know, there are freaks out here who'd love to get their hands on you?" He asked him, leaning in way too close for Seto's comfort. "How old are you, boy?" He whispered, his face just inches away from Seto's own face._

"_Try to touch me and I'll bite it off." Seto replied seriously. Seto of course, didn't really no what he was talking about, as he didn't really have any idea what his father meant when he said stay away from strangers, and if anyone ever touched him in a bad way he should tell him right away. He had an idea, he wasn't stupid. He figured anything covered by his Doraemon briefs was probably what his father meant, despite the fact he'd said anything under his pants. The fact that he very nearly got a teacher fired for pushing up his pant leg and touching the area around his scraped knee told him that wasn't the case. Seto shot the man the coldest glare he could muster. It seemed to be enough of a threat for the old man, because he stumbled backwards away from him, and started shouting something about having found a demon child. Seto sighed and shivered a little bit, he was still cold, wet, and hungry and the creepy man had only distracted his attention away from these facts for a moment._

_It was only about fifteen minutes later when he felt a flashlight's beam shine into his eyes, blinding him temporarily. He squinted to avoid the light, and then blinked a couple of times to adjust himself. When he was finally able to see he saw the creepy man from before, and mercifully, a police officer._

"_That's him officer, that's the demon child!" The man pointed. He hiccupped and pointed a finger at Seto._

"_Settle down now, sir!" The police officer snapped walking over to Seto cautiously. His eyes widened when he saw who the kid was, "Why you're that missing kid, aren't you boy. What's you name?"_

"_Seto Takekawa, don't let that guy near me. He was going to touch me, but I scared him." Seto pleaded, trying to squirm away from the man. The officer whipped his head around, but the guy had run away. The officers walked away from Seto for a moment, and then radioed other officers to lookout for the man, and arrest him when they saw him. He then walked over to Seto, who flinched when he tried to come into contact with him. The officer shushed him, and cut the tape away. He grabbed Seto's head with one arm, burying it into his broad chest with one arm to cover's his ears, and then shot the chain linking the individual handcuffs with the other. He then proceeded to cut the tape and rope away from Seto's legs, and then stood him upright and dusted him off. Seto watched the man carefully the whole time, noticing that the man didn't even cringe at the pungent smell he was emanating from being used as toilet, and not being able to go to the bathroom his own self. He was also the tallest man he'd ever seen, and Seto had felt so small and helpless before, to the point where it disgusted him, but the bigger man had made those feelings dissipate. Seto burst into to tears from relief._

"_Its okay kid, it's all over now." The cop reassured, picking Seto up and letting him wrap his arms around his neck. Seto buried his face into his shoulder and cried; he felt so much relief that he cried out a slew of emotions his body had effectively blocked out before. The whole situation overwhelmed the small child, and he cried himself to sleep in the officer's arms. When he woke up he was wrapped up in a blanket, in a fresh set of clothes and in his father's arms in the hospital. The officer from before was taking his father's statement and Seto sat up slowly, happy to see the officer. He slowly committed to memory what the cop looked like, resolving to talk to him every chance he got, even though his family would be moving to Hokkaido soon. The man had hard, determined brown eyes. His thick black locks were neatly groomed, and he was tall and muscular, with broad shoulders._

"_Thank you, Mr. Police man sir, for saving my life." Seto said, to alert the adults that he was awake._

"_No problem little Seto, I'm just doing my job." He replied. "Now then, do you want to tell me what happened to you?"_

"_Well, there was this gang of bullies. They beat me up, tied me up, and left me out there after using me like a toilet." Seto answered. "I'm sorry I couldn't defend myself from them, I'm sorry I was so weak!" Seto cried, burying his face into his hands. "Why does everyone hate me?" _

_Kazunori eyes widened and he walked over towards Seto, but the officer beat him to it._

"_You're not weak!" The officer said sharply, his tone leaving no room for arguments. _The music Kaiba was playing changed to a much more hopeful song, each note he played building up and up, Tea felt her heart swell up with courage and pride.

"_You're only seven years old. Little kids aren't weak; they are like…you've played with clay before right?" The officer asked. Seto nodded his head, looking up at the man with puffy red eyes, that had widened and was slowly filling with hope. "Well, that's what a little kid is like. You're still deciding who you're going to be."_

"_My teacher told me I was destined to be weak, I think that was the word, and that I couldn't help who I turned out to be. He said I couldn't change, and that everyone would always hate me, and that he hoped I got eaten by a bear." Seto sniffed, staring up at the man confused. Kazunori's eyes widened again._

"_Your teacher should be fired. I don't believe in destiny. I believe that destiny is an excuse the weak make to justify their weakness, and inability to take control of their own lives. These are the same people who can't even protect their family members." The man spat. "Don't listen to them, you can be anything and do anything you want to be. Seto, you are especially gifted. I can tell by the way you talk, your speech sounds way more grown up than your seven years of life. You decide who you want to be, and don't let anyone else tell you different."_

"_Then, do you hate weak people?" Seto asked. The officer laughed for a moment._

"_Of course not, I swore to protect everyone from the real evil people in this world, people who prey on the weak. Who do things like what that group of bullies did to you! And do you want to know something kid? Those kinds of people are the weakest of them all, and I have no sympathy for those who group in numbers, or use weapons, to try to bring others down to their level or kill them if they refuse." The officer explained, trying to use simple words to explain to the seven year old. _

"_You protect people who can't protect themselves?" Seto asked carefully._

"_Yes sir, I do. Well, I better get going; you take care of yourself and that cute little brother of yours." The officer said, ruffling Seto's hair and then tapping him on the nose. Seto laughed. The officer thought for a moment, and then fished in his pocket and pulled out a fake, plastic cereal badge that had fallen out of his breakfast that morning. "Here son, take care." The officer smiled, he stood up to his full height and nodded towards the father and then left with a smile on his face._

_Seto looked down at his badge, which gleamed under the artificial lights of the hospital, and then looked back up at his father._

"_Dad, from now on I'm going to help you carry the one!" Seto smiled. "And I promise to always protect little brother Mokuba too!"_

_Kazunori smiled and then reached into his pocket and pulled out his son's blue eyed dragon plushy. "Here Seto, sorry I had to sew on a new tail, Mokuba accidentally ripped it. He's been sleeping with it every night you know, he really missed you. I missed you too." Kazunori smiled. "I really glad you're safe, you had me so worried. I though you might of…" Kazunori trailed off, sucking in breath. Seto blinked a couple of times. His father was probably afraid he had died, like everyone else in his father's life it seemed._

"_I'm fine Daddy, I'll always be right here!" Seto insisted, pointing at Kazunori's heart. Kazunori stared up at Seto in disbelief, he'd didn't really know how it happened, but he'd raised an amazingly perceptive, sweet, kid. It was nice to know he hadn't screwed that up, like so many other things in his life._

Kaiba's song turned soft and sweet and mellow. It almost made Tea want to fall asleep; it was like a gentle lullaby.

"_Mokuba, look what I made you!" Seto exclaimed, handing Mokuba a white sock with paper wings and blue buttons taped to it. "It's a dragon, like the one mommy made me!" Seto exclaimed, waving the dragon in Mokuba's face. Mokuba stared at the 'dragon' then back at his older brother, a big smile gracing his two year old features._

"_Love you, big brother!" Mokuba exclaimed shaking the dragon around. "Dragon!" He shouted waving it around in the air. _

"_Let's play a game!" Seto said, grabbing his boxes of toys. Mokuba grabbed one of the ninja figurines out of the box and began hitting the ground with it. Seto ignored him and grabbed a game out of his box._

"_Let's play the game of life!" Seto exclaimed, grabbing the game board which said life in big white letters behind colorful backdrops. On the cover of the board game was the picture of the earless, cat robot Doraemon. Seto paused for a moment. "Actually, I think you're too little for this game."_

"_Pirate!" Mokuba shouted, grabbing the plastic swords. Seto shook his head._

"_Nah, how about baseball board?" Seto asked, pulling out the game's worn box from the bottom of the larger toy box._

"_I want pirate!" Mokuba sniffed, showing off he'd placed the pirate in the barrel and found some of the colorful plastic swords that were used to play the game. Seto looked at baseball board a little disappointedly then put the game away and finished finding the rest of the swords._

"_Okay Mokuba, we can play pirate. First person to make the pirate to jump out of the barrel wins, okay?"_

"_Okay!" Mokuba replied, grabbing the pirate._

"_No, Mokuba. You have to stick the sword in like this." Seto explained, popping the pirate into place and then sticking a sword in the barrel._

"_Oh." Mokuba said, sticking his finger in mouth. He looked carefully at the swords and then placed one into the hole, using his sock dragon to do so._

"_Dragon play too." Mokuba explained_

"_Oh, how mean of me!" Seto jumped up, grabbing his stuffed dragon his mom and dad had fixed up for him off the table they were sitting next to. "Blue might want to play too!"_

"_Hi blue!" Mokuba made his sock dragon._

"_Hi…What's your dragon's name Mokuba!"_

"_Seto!" Mokuba shouted triumphantly. _

"_No, that's my name silly. How about…Mr. Socker." Seto provided. Mokuba thought for a moment. _

"_Mr. Dragon!"_

"_Mr. Dragon, but that's not…" Seto began, but Mokuba took a pirate sword and stuck it into the barrel without listening any further on the subject. Seto shrugged._

"_Blue it your turn!" Mokuba replied._

"_Yes!" Seto made the dragon place a sword into the barrel and the pirate jumped out causing Mokuba to scream and then squeal with delight._

"_Seto, come look at this!" Kazunori shouted from the living room. _

"_Okay!" Seto shouted back, grabbing Mokuba by the hand and then running into the living room. He stared at the television screen in amazement. An anime was on the screen. He saw a huge white dragon with large blue eyes roar mightily and then shoot a beam of lightning at a magician clad in dark purple robes. The magician shot a beam of dark purple light at the dragon and then the two beams of energy collided into each other, the dragon's attack finally overpowered the magician's attack and then magician cried out in agony and then collapsed, a black ghost wrapped in chains carted the magician away. _

"_Nothing can stop my Blue Eyes White Dragon's white lightning attack, or even its neutron blast! You may as well give up now!" A man's voice was heard, he stood on the ground, just below the dragon. He stood tall and proud his black hair spiked and a long crimson cape flapping in the wind behind him._

"_Never, I summon the unstoppable Exodia!" A woman was heard saying, she was skimpily clad in a leotard and red miniskirt and a pair of boots. On the screen a star appeared and a creature's golden arms materialized from two of its points. The rest of the huge monster appeared and towered over the dragon! _

"_Who will win?" An announcer voiced asked as Exodia and the dragon's attack met and battled for dominance on the screen. "It's all up to you!" The scene changed and it showed two little kids playing a card game, and zoomed in on a shiny holographic card with the blue eyes white dragon on it and five cards with different pieces of Exodia on it. The little boy and the little girl seemed to be having the time of their lives. "Magic and Wizards: Duel Monsters are available now at your local game store. It's time to duel."_

_The commercial flicked off the screen and a Korean drama came back on. Kazunori smiled at Seto's totally and completely amazed look. He hadn't seen a smile that big on his son's face in years. Seto stared at his blue eyed dragon and then up his father, still to shocked and awed to form words._

"_It looks just like the dragon your mother and I fixed up for you." Kazunori pointed out. "And like the one you made for your brother, right Seto?"_

"_That is the coolest thing I have ever seen!" _

"_I wanted to buy you one for your birthday that's coming up, but I heard that there only four blue eyes white dragons in the whole world, they're really rare Seto. But maybe one day if you work hard enough, and you're a good boy, you'll become someone who can earn a blue eyes white dragon!" Kazunori explained. _

"_But I want one now!" _

"_Well you know they are a little expensive. But, you want to be actor right? If you work really hard at acting, you can star in big movies and make lots of money and buy them yourself. But not everyone can be a world famous actor; you have to be really good. That means you have to work really hard, starting now, at becoming the best that you can be." Kazunori smiled at Seto. _

"_Okay, Dad. I will, you'll see someday I'll become somebody worthy of a blue eyes white dragon, I promise!" He replied seriously. Kazunori turned back on the T.V. and returned to figuring out his budget for the month. _

"_Dad, you forgot to carry the three over." Seto said, peeping over his dad's shoulder. A blush spread over Kazunori's face and a smile spread across his feature._

"_Oops, I always forget that…" Kazunori laughed, rubbing the back of his head and smiling. He stood up suddenly, knocking over the small table he was sitting next to and a ton of papers in the process. "Alright, from now on I'm going to try my best with my son Seto!" He shouted pumping his fist into the air._

"_Daddy funny." Mokuba laughed._

"_Even if you say that Mokuba, it isn't funny… Dad can never remember; he'll never be good at math."_

"_No math! No math!" Mokuba chanted, giggling and clapping his small hands. Kazunori pretended to cry and sulk._

"_Where's the love, where's the faith?" Kazunori sniffed._

"_You can find it after you carry the one!" Seto announced, sticking his hands into his pocket and blowing a bang out of his face. Kazunori hung his head and then burst into laughter, with Mokuba and Seto joining in._

Kaiba's music shifted to a much more foreboding sound, somber and eerie. Tea felt a chill run down her spine; the music had shifted so suddenly from such a joyous tune.

"_I hate you!" Seto had burst into tears, trying to get out of the pool. _

"_Don't you like your new green swimming trunks; they have Doraemon on them…" Kazunori asked, grabbing Seto's shoulder._

"_No! I hate Doraemon, I hate the deep end, and I hate you!" Seto declared, trying to get away._

"_Seto, you have to move on to the deep end eventually! You're not in kindergarten anymore…" Kazunori sighed, grabbing Seto again from leaving the pool. "Your life will be easier, if you try your best now!"_

"_No! I hate you. I hate you. I hate you!" Seto cried, shaking his head and trying to get away. "I want to stay in the shallow end, idiot. Go away, I hate you." _

"_Seto all the other little kids know how to swim!" Kazunori pointed out, shifting tactics. "Do you want to be the only one who doesn't know…?"_

"_I don't care, I'm already different anyway. I don't need to know how to swim. I like the shallow end!" Seto pouted, shaking his head._

"_Seto…"_

"_If you don't leave me alone, I'll scream…" Seto threatened, eyes already beginning to water._

"_Seto I promise if you try it, I'll buy you anything you want for you birthday. It's only two weeks from now right. C'mon, do it for me!" Kazunori pleaded. Seto huffed and tried to get away. Growling in frustration he grabbed Seto and pulled him into the deep end with him, holding onto his waist so he wouldn't drown. Seto suddenly screamed and began trying to squirm away from him, wailing loudly._

"_I don't want to swim. Let go of me weirdo. I hate you!" Seto wailed. Kazunori looked at the other moms who were teaching their own kids to swim, and who were also glaring at him._

"_Fine, if you don't want to behave then I'm going home!" Kazunori growled, putting Seto back in to the shallow end of the pool. "Take care of your brother." Kazunori pointed towards Mokuba who was playing with a bucket in the kiddy pool. Kazunori stomped off and pretended to leave Seto and his brother. He watched them from the corner of his eyes. Seto sank into the water a little for a second, blowing bubbles angrily. Before getting out of the pool, and slinging a white towel over his shoulder, he grabbed Mokuba and began trailing and ran to catch up with his father. _

"_Oh, what are you doing here Seto. I thought you liked the shallow end so much, and I thought you hated me. Why don't you live there?" Kazunori teased. Seto huffed and folded his arms across his chest. _

"_I do hate you." Seto insisted. _

"_Well that's too bad, because I love you." Kazunori replied, tousling Seto's hair. "And we're trying again tomorrow." He added. Seto just held his breath and counted to ten in his head angrily. Kazunori sighed and his flicked lazily to the street next to the locker rooms. He saw a small little girl, no older than three playing with a bright pink ball. She seemed to have wandered away from the daycare behind her, and the teachers hadn't noticed yet. Seto looked at his dad who seemed to be staring hard at something, and then over at the little girl in confusion._

"_Aki! Come here!" A worn out young woman called out. The little girl dropped her ball in surprise and it rolled into the streets. The little girl stared at it for a moment, indecision in her big brown eyes._

"_Come here!" The teacher reiterated. Aki looked over at her teacher for a moment._

"_Okay, just let me get my ball!" Aki shouted, running after it. _

"_No!" The teacher screamed. Kazunori's eyes widened as the girl ran straight into traffic. He quickly hopped the small fence separating him from the small street and grabbed the girl knocking her out of the way, as the teacher screamed and ran after the child. The little girl fell safely onto the curb, and began to wail loudly. The teacher screamed as the man who had saved the little girl was stuck by the oncoming semi truck instead, his body flying through the air and landing on the windshield of the car with a sickening thud. _

The music shifted again to a heartbreakingly sad dirge. It was the single saddest piece of music Tea had ever heard. She tried to come up with some kind of dance to fit the mood, but found all she could do was sway back and forth and cry, sobs racking her body. Seto's eyes were closed and she couldn't believe he was able to continue playing.

"_Dad!" Seto shouted, shoving Mokuba into one of the lockers quickly so he wouldn't see and then scaling the fence. Mokuba banged on the locker loudly, wailing in confusion._

"_Seto, what happen? Seto!" Mokuba shouted._

"_Dad" Seto screamed, running across the street without looking and narrowly avoiding getting hit by a car himself. Seto tried to run towards the wreck, but the teacher grabbed his arm as the driver of the truck stumbled out of it and collapsed to the ground. "Let me go lady, I have to save my Dad. I have to tell him I love him, he thinks…I have to save my dad!" Seto insisted, trying to wrench away from her iron like grip. "Dad wakeup, I don't hate you, I love you, and you have to wake up. Please dad, wake up! Dad!" Seto screamed, tears streaming down his face. _

The music stopped and Kaiba opened his eyes slowly, his fingers hovering over the keys of the keyboard. His gaze flicked over to Tea.

"Tea…" He whispered, walking towards her. He placed a hand on her shoulder, and Tea turned around, tears streamed down her face.

"_Seto, what happened to you?"_ She asked Kaiba. Before he had a chance to answer she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into her chest, allowing his head to rest on her shoulder, but also causing them both to fall to the ground on their knees. "_Please, tell me what made you this sad, what made you write this piece of music. Tell me Seto, I want to know. I want to know, so I can make sure you never have to write a song like that again! Tell me Seto, please."_

"…_I don't need your pity." _Kaiba replied, "_I don't need your help._ _I don't need your protection. The only thing I need from you, is for you to stay right here. I'm okay when I'm with Mokuba and you. I'm okay…_" Kaiba insisted, not moving from her embrace.

* * *

Mokuba arched an eyebrow as he drove back from work. He had promised he'd stay the whole day, but for some reason he felt like there was something wrong with his brother, and so he decided to head home early. He pulled the car over next to a blonde man who was cussing under his breath and kicking an empty can of what looked to be some sort of bean down the street.

"Joey, is that you?" Mokuba asked. Joey turned his head and then smiled with relief; jumping into the convertible Mokuba was driving.

"Man, am I glad to see you." Joey replied. Mokuba arched an eyebrow.

"I never said get in…" He muttered. Joey cut him off by patting him roughly on the back.

"Good save buddy. Tristan couldn't come get me and Yugi can't drive in this country, I thought I was going to have to walk all the way back!"

"Why didn't you call Mai?" Mokuba asked. Joey huffed and turned his head away. Mokuba's eyes widened, as he realized what was going on.

"Ah, I see. So you got into fight with her. But then, why didn't you call Duke, or Rebecca? Duke has a license here, and Rebecca does too. She's from this country, even if her wild driving says otherwise." Mokuba pointed out starting his car.

"I forgot…" Joey sighed, as he slumped in his car seat. "Man, I've already walked at least three miles too."

"Yeah, well you're lucky my brother went home early. He'd never have let you live this down." Mokuba teased, a smile gracing his features. "He probably would've sad something like 'as I expected, from a pathetic dog like you,' or 'that's exactly what I'd expect from someone who's mediocre, like Joey.'" Mokuba laughed, after imitating his brother.

"Shut up!" Joey huffed, folding his arms across his chest. "You've been hanging around moneybags too much."

"Well, he is my big brother, idiot." Mokuba pointed out. Joey rolled his eyes, and then a grin spread across his face.

"Hey, do you want to see my impression of Kaiba?" Joey asked, grinning from ear to ear.

"Does it involve you doing something inane and unrelated, like scratching yourself and pretending you're a monkey, all the while thinking you're insanely clever?"

"Uh…."

"I thought so." Mokuba laughed, shaking his head. "Man Joey, sometimes I wonder if my brother is right about you…"

"Shut up!" Joey huffed, folding his arms across his chest in mock anger. He couldn't bring himself to really be mad though, he wouldn't miss the chance to make fun of anyone who was talking bad about his own sister. It actually touched his heart how close the Kaiba brothers were, and how much they looked each after each other. It was beautiful, like the relationship he had with his own sister. Joey felt a tear well slide down his cheek and Mokuba glanced over at him in shock, quickly turning his attention back to the road.

"Are you crying?" Mokuba asked incredulously."

"No I'm not crying, queer, shut up." Joey insisted, quickly wiping his tear away.

* * *

Tea glanced through the notebook Kaiba had been writing in earlier, surprised that he even wanted to write a concert about himself. But then, she supposed that way he'd be able to still appear amazing and strong without actually telling anyone how weak he used to be, in his own somewhat twisted opinion. She was lying in Kaiba's arms, her head resting in Kaiba's chest, as the pair sat on the couch and watched the news. Tea yawned and glanced over at Kaiba and saw he'd already fallen asleep. She pulled the blankets closer around them and closed her own eyes, falling asleep in the comfort of Kaiba's arms.

Mokuba opened the door to the mansion, and walked in, carefully placing his shoes in the cubby by the door. Joey walked in behind Mokuba and followed suit.

"Man, I'm starving!" Joey complained, patting his stomach.

"Joey, with your appetite sometimes I worry that you'll manage to even eat me out of house and home." Mokuba chocked. Joey swatted Mokuba on the back of the head and the two laughed, walking into the living room from the foyer. Mokuba heard the familiar sound of the news, and rolled his eyes. His brother probably tried to sneak behind his back and work from home anyway. Mokuba frowned and crossed his arms across his chest, stomping into the living room. He froze at the sight of Tea and Kaiba asleep together, the television was still on and Kaiba's laptop was still casting a pale glow across their faces. The remote controlled hung loosely in Kaiba's free arm and his brother's autobiographical concert notebook lay in Tea's hands. Mokuba took the notebook from Tea and tossed in onto the table, along with the remote. Joey looked over at Mokuba, who having only seemed so proud and close to his brother a moment ago was now staring at his brother with a quiet, jealous rage. Mokuba walked into the kitchen, leaving Joey behind and quickly came back with a cup of water, placing his brother's fingers in it.

"That'll really humiliate him you know. That's only funny when the person isn't sleeping with their first love…" Joey said quietly, staring at Kaiba.

"I don't care, I want him to be embarrassed, and it's what he deserves!" Mokuba growled shaking his head. "Even if I said was alright for them to be together ,even if I told Tea that I would wait patiently while she picked who she wanted to be with, even if I pretend I'm happy playing second fiddle, I'm not! I'm always stuck in my brother's shadow and I'm sick of it. No one thinks of me as Mokuba Kaiba, they think of me as Seto Kaiba's brother! And, I was okay with that. Because, I knew that I had found a girl that Seto couldn't have. I found a girl that I could love, that was better than all the girls out of there, and Seto would never be able to date her because he always made her angry, so I knew maybe one day I'd have a shot. The best part of all was that she acknowledged me." Mokuba said, bowing his head so that his bangs shadowed his face. "She saw me as someone who was worthy of saving because of who I am, and not who I'm related to. I waited so many years, to just be old enough for people not to stare. I waited so many years, so that people wouldn't hate her for robbing the cradle, for our ages not to matter. And Seto knew I loved her. And yet, when it was only supposed to be a temporary punishment for them to spend time together, when I finally have a chance, he takes her from me! And all I can seem to do is sit back and watch, all I can do is watch as the only person I've ever loved, the only person who sees more in me than money, more in me than my brother, thinks of me more and more as just Seto's shadow. And I'm not okay with it, even if I pretend to be. I'm not okay with it." Mokuba snapped his head up to meet Joey's eyes, tears streaming down his face. "I'm not!"

"Mokuba…" Joey said, looking over at Tea. Joey walked over to Mokuba quietly, slinging an arm over his shoulder. "C'mon, I'll buy you a hamburger, we both could use one. Then Yugi, Tristan, and I will make you a member of our lonely hearts club and teach you what we do when we're feeling unlucky in love. Then we'll help you come up with a way to win Tea back and face your brother." Joey grinned winking. Mokuba sniffed and nodded, turning back towards his brother, where his fingers still lay in the cup of water. A malicious grin spread marred his young face, and he turned towards Joey, smiling turning much more innocent.

"Thanks Joey it sounds like fun." Mokuba nodded, walking back to the foyer with Joey's arms still slung across his shoulder. "Sweet dreams Seto." He whispered.

* * *

Another chapter finished woot! Thanks to all you readers out there, and thank a billion to all you reviewers.

(1) Seto is a name that's more common in Kyushu then the rest of Japan. I reconciled the parent's reasons for naming Kaiba, Seto, with the author Kazuki Takahashi's reason for naming him that. Also the characters making up Kaiba's name in the Japanese version really do mean rapids and person.

(2) This translation of itadakimasu, which Japanese people say before almost all of their meals is combined form of what my Japanese history teacher told me and an article about it titled what itadakimasu taught me, if you want to read the article yourself, then google **what itadakimasu taught me **and click I'm feeling lucky as it should be the first page. The translation is more along the lines of what he said, than my history teacher.

(3) In Japan, mostly high school girls wear perfume, and not a lot of people actually wear it. When they do wear it, it doesn't last long. Read the New York Times article entitled display it, don't spray it for more on Japanese culture as it relates to perfume, and to learn about the different kinds of perfume the Japanese people do have. To get to the article type in **display it, don't spray it New York Times** into the google search engine

(4) stupid idiot is actually an incredibly obscene swear in Japan, just thought that would be an interesting tidbit of information, since the English translation sounds so mild.

Also I actually did research Japanese games for Kaiba and Mokuba to play with, so yeah, they are all real. So is doraemon, whose actually been named a cultural ambassador for Japan. Well that's all for this chapter. It actually took me a really, really long time to get this the way I wanted it to be. Its 27, 288 words and took me weeks to write. So yeah, any feedback you can provide me, good or bad, would be greatly appreciated. Well until next chapter, Read and REVIEW, see ya ;)


	15. Close Call

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or Sexy back

English

_Japanese_

* * *

School had never held any real interest to Mokuba Kaiba. His brother had made it more than clear that he would be running the family business as his vice president since the moment he'd wrestled the company from their stepfather's hands. As such, he really didn't feel the need to learn about why the Kamakura Shogunate fell, or about the warring states period and how Tokugawa Ieyasu ushered in a period of piece and stability. This is why it was hard to listen to his teacher drone on about the American Revolution. It wasn't that he had anything against General Washington, it was just, he didn't even like learning about his own history, why would he want to learn the history of another country? He glanced down at his notebook where his notes were supposed to lay. Instead, however, there was a sketch of Tea in a bikini. Mokuba yawned and began adding water droplets dripping down her body when he suddenly got the creepy feeling someone was watching him. He looked up and saw the whole class staring at him with amused smirks on their faces and his teacher standing next to him with an unamused frown on hers. She snatched the notebook from Mokuba's desk and looked at the picture he'd drawn.

"Mokuba, this is incredibly inappropriate…." She began as her mono-brow furrowed. Mokuba rolled his eyes and his teacher snarled, baring her yellow teeth. "Don't you roll your eyes at me young man! I'll have you know that some of the students in this room come to school to learn."

"And I don't see how silently drawing could've possibly interrupted them. Unless, of course you count the fact that you've decided to take time out of their parents tax dollars hard at work to harass someone who wasn't interrupting their learning process to stroke your ego." Mokuba shot back. The teacher's eyes narrowed and she stomped over to her desk.

"You just earned yourself a detention young man and you can go to in school suspension for the remainder of the period. Maybe this will teach you not to write checks your mouth can't cash." She snapped, quickly writing a detention slip out and handing it to Mokuba.

"I seriously doubt you can write a check I can't cash." Mokuba replied, snatching the pink slip from the teacher and slinging his backpack over his shoulder. The teacher glared at him as he waltzed out of the room. Mokuba started heading to ISS when he realized that his little outburst would probably be in the tabloids tomorrow morning. He paused in the middle of the hallway. His plan to make his brother have an "accident" had backfired when someone had knocked over the cup of water he'd placed his brother's fingers in. Kaiba had slept peacefully and when he'd come home his brother was as content as his brother got, working on his laptop as Tea and Serenity cheerfully cooked everyone dinner. Mokuba glanced around the hallways looking at all of the dark red lockers that neatly lined them. He wondered for a moment how bad Kaiba Corp would look if he took the time out to open all of them. He sighed and readjusted his backpack on his shoulder and shook his head, deciding not to go through with the malicious idea. Instead he walked over to his own locker, tossed his backpack inside of it, and left the building. He had no intention of going to detention. Instead, he decided to see how Tea was doing. He waltzed out of the school, ignoring the security guard that was shouting at him, and whipped out his cell phone. After a few awkward minutes hiding from the security guard who'd run outside to try to stop him from leaving, a sleek black limousine pulled up in front of him.

"Sir, I don't think your brother would approve of this…" The chauffeur said quietly from the front seat of the car.

"Well, then it's a good thing we don't pay you to think." Mokuba shot back. He noticed a look of shock and worry mar the driver's face and Mokuba sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you like that it's not your fault I'm having a bad day." Mokuba apologized.

"Quite alright sir, where do you want to go?" The driver asked.

"Tea Gardner's house." Mokuba stated. The driver nodded. They drove along in silence for a moment before Mokuba furrowed his brow. Something didn't feel right to him.

"Hey, Winfrey are you okay?" He asked the driver.

"I'm fine sir, you needn't worry about me." Winfrey replied respectively. Mokuba frowned and scratched his chin.

"What is today's date?" He inquired.

"The 17th sir." Winfrey answered.

"I knew it!" Mokuba exclaimed suddenly, startling Winfrey. The older man looked through the mirror to see behind him.

"Knew what sir?" Winfrey asked.

"You take today off every year because it's your anniversary, right? But then earlier this year your kid got really sick and because of that you used up all of your sick and vacation days to be by his side, therefore HR must've rejected your request for today off, right?" Mokuba asked. Winfrey sighed and nodded.

"Yes, but you needn't worry about me sir, the missus knows I tried to get today off and she is quite fine with it…" Winfrey stated, as he came to stop in front of a red traffic light.

"Yeah, but it's obviously still bothering you because it's a tradition you've held onto since you've been in our employ. And it's a tradition I insist you keep! After you drop me off at Tea's house you can have the rest of the day off. There are plenty of other limos for me to get home in." Mokuba insisted, leaning back in his chair with a smile on his face. The older man's face lit up and he turned around and smiled at Mokuba.

"Thank you so much sir, this really means a lot to me!" Winfrey said, turning his attention back to the road. Mokuba grinned and shook his head.

"No, don't mention it. I'd want someone to do the same thing for me if I were in your shoes; family is the most important thing on this Earth." Mokuba said casually as the traffic light turned green. Winfrey nodded in agreement and the rest of the ride was spent in silence.

* * *

Tea yawned as she read the classifieds section of the news paper, her chin resting in her hand along with a red pen. Putting the paper down, she reached for a cookie and dipped it into her milk. She had just taken a bite of the chocolate chip cookie, when she heard a knock on her door. Her eyebrows knitted in confusion and she bit the cookie firmly in her mouth then used her now free hands to tie her lavender robe together as she made her way to the front door. She peered through the peep hole of the door and saw Mokuba staring down at his shoes. Her eyes widened in surprise and she opened the door. Mokuba laughed at her confused expression that was only made funnier by the cookie dangling from her mouth. She snapped what wasn't in her mouth away from the half that was and smiled.

"Oh Sorry, what are you doing here?" She asked after quickly finishing off the remainder of the cookie and ushering him in.

"Nice to see you too…" Mokuba muttered. Tea grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head.

"Sorry, my manners seem to be malfunctioning today or something, I think I may have been spending too much time around Joey." She laughed.

"Probably." Mokuba laughed in agreement.

"Well then let me try again!" Tea exclaimed. "Good evening sir, what brings you to my humble abode?" Tea said mock formally while giving a theatrical bow. Mokuba laughed and smiled.

"Well, I decided to skip school, and since I was skipping anyway I decided to come see you." Mokuba replied. Tea frowned.

"You know, you shouldn't skip school…" Tea chastised.

"You, your friends and my brother must've missed a bazillion days of school to go play card games! I think I'll live just this once." Mokuba cut her off, rolling his eyes. Tea shrugged.

"Good point, but it was more than just card games. The fate of the very world was at stake." Tea shot back.

"The craziest part of that statement is that it's true. Although if Yugi hadn't decided to seek revenge on my brother just because his Grandfather was a weak old man who had a heart attack just because he lost a card game, then none of this would've happened." Mokuba shrugged.

"Now wait just a minute here, your brother kidnapped Yugi's grandpa and the surprise and the rough treatment is what gave him a heart attack!" Tea said angrily.

"I was there Tea, just because the guards brought him to our house against his will doesn't mean he was hurt. If you didn't notice the store was pretty neat and clean when you got there, the old man thought he was going to teach my brother a lesson." Mokuba snapped.

"He would've too if your brother didn't decide to spring those dangerous dueling holographic simulations on him, that's what gave him the heart attack!"

"He was fine enough to keep dueling against my brother until there was clear winner! And on a side note he agreed to wager his rarest card. He wanted to teach him a lesson about forcing people to part with their valuables; he thought my brother was arrogant. Not that I doubt he would've given it right back after a stern lecture, but still…" Mokuba spat.

"How can you sit there and defend your brother's actions? If that duel makes anyone responsible for all the bad things that happened to our group; then it's your brother!"

"No, it was Yugi's fault. He shouldn't have been messing with my clearly insane brother; he should've just given him a mind crush and then been on his way. Then Pegasus wouldn't have heard about someone defeating my brother, he wouldn't of sent the tape to see if someone had a millennium item or magic power, he wouldn't of kidnapped Yugi's grandpa, Marik wouldn't of heard of the Pharoah's return when he defeated Pegasus and none of this would've of happened."

"That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, someone had to stop your brother and teach him a lesson, back then he was a raging lunatic!" Tea yelled.

"All I know is if my brother had a heart attack, I wouldn't have been playing card games I would've been by his side." Mokuba pointed out, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Yugi's grandpa wanted him to duel Kaiba, he gave him his deck to use." Tea screamed. Mokuba turned his head away from her and blew a bang out of his face.

"Look, I didn't come here to argue with you over old ghosts. The truth is I'm glad all of those things happened because my brother is a much better person now." Mokuba sighed. Tea's eyes softened and she blew out a calming sigh of her own.

"We all ultimately benefited from the Pharaoh's presence." Tea agreed. "We all became better people."

"Anyway, what are you doing?" Mokuba inquired, as he walked over to the fridge and looked inside for something to eat.

"Looking through the classifieds and getting ready to wash dishes." Tea yawned and shrugged.

"Need any help?" Mokuba asked as he took a bite out a banana he found in the refrigerator and kicked the white door shut with his foot simultaneously.

"Sure, thanks." Tea nodded. "Just let me run upstairs and change." Tea added, extending her index finger in the air. Mokuba nodded and picked up the newspaper and glanced at the business section as he finished his banana. Tea meanwhile, ran up the stairs to get changed. She opened the drawers to her dresser, which was large and white with an ornate vanity mirror attached to it and rummaged through her clothes. She put on a pair of pink shorts and black and pink tee shirt and then ran back down the stairs, sliding to a halt in front of Mokuba who had finished his food and thrown it away.

"You look cute." Mokuba smiled, giving her a quick kiss on the lips. "Well then, let's begin." Mokuba exclaimed, clapping his hands together. Tea nodded and walked over to the sink, Mokuba in tow.

"Here you dry and I'll wash." Tea instructed, putting on a pair of large yellow gloves. Mokuba raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you have a dishwasher?" Mokuba questioned in disbelief.

"We're not all rich you know…" Tea replied. "Besides, I like doing dishes it gives me time to think."

"I'm sure Mai can afford one, and besides you don't have to be rich to own a dishwasher." Mokuba pointed out.

"Like I said, I like doing dishes. Besides, why should I do that when I can just do it myself, I'm not lazy you know." Tea stated. Mokuba rolled his eyes and grabbed a towel, obviously irritated he was now on the hook to help; the boy really wasn't use to doing things without the aid of some kind of technology. Tea smiled and grabbed the dishwashing liquid.

"Look, the liquid even smells like apples, it will be fun." Tea insisted, waving the bottle of red dishwashing solution in his face. She blocked one half of the sink and filled it water and soap. The water became full with foamy white bubbles in a matter of seconds. Some of the larger bubbles caught the sunlight filtering in through the windows that glistened with tiny rainbows. "We can make a game out of it if you want!" Tea said, turning her attention back to Mokuba.

"That does smell good, and we don't need to make a game out of it. Unlike my brother, I don't obsess over games." Mokuba laughed. Tea laughed at the good natured jab at his brother, but then turned off the water in the sink and frowned with mock anger.

"Hey don't make fun of you brother, games are serious business!" Tea mocked, flicking a little bit of the bubbles at him.

"Games are serious business young lady!" Mokuba boomed, flicking some of the soap back.

"This is what I think about that statement." Tea teased, splashing a larger amount than she intended to at Mokuba. Mokuba spluttered and Tea clutched her sides and laughed.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry." Tea managed between laughs, though the redness in her cheeks and the way she was doubled over laughing took away any sincerity the statement would've had.

"Oh, you're going to be." Mokuba replied, grabbing the dishwashing hose from the side of the sink.

"No, don't!" Tea squeaked as she backed away slowly. Mokuba grinned and hosed her down with water. Tea screamed and opened the refrigerator door, ducking behind it. She quickly grabbed a tube of whipped cream and sprayed it towards him.

"Ah, my shirt!" Mokuba yelled quickly pulling it off in attempt to keep from getting whip cream on it. However it was too late and it ended on both his shirt and chest. Tea eyes widened and she doubled over in laughter.

"You got it all over my shirt." Mokuba pouted.

"I'm sorry." Tea laughed again. Mokuba smirked and folded his arms across his chest.

"You're going to pay for that missy."

"Oh is that so?" Tea smirked.

"That's right; you've been a bad girl, and now its time to punish you." Mokuba replied a smile tugging at his lips.

"Only if you can catch me." Tea taunted, sticking her tongue out at him. Mokuba lunged at her and she gracefully leapt out of the way, and then sprayed whip cream all down his back. Mokuba shielded his face and then made another grab for Tea but she turned and laughed quickly running back up the stairs. Mokuba gave chase and caught up with her as she attempted to hide in her closet. He flung her on the bed and began mercilessly tickling her.

"Ah…stop…this…isn't…what…I…had…no…fair…" Tea squeaked out in between laughs as she squirmed underneath Mokuba. Mokuba stopped for a moment and smiled at Tea, his arms on either side of her face. Tea smiled back, staring up into Mokuba's eyes. The two just gazed into each other's eyes for a moment, totally lost in them. Mokuba and Tea's eyes fluttered closed and Mokuba leaned down and captured her mouth with his. Tea's hand reached up and she tangled her fingers in his long silky locks, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss.

"What did you have in mind then?" Mokuba whispered pulling away. Tea ignored his question and slowly traced his abs and chiseled pecks where tiny amounts of whip cream still lay.

"You still have a lot quite whip cream on you, let me clean you up." Tea whispered, flipping Mokuba over so he was on his back. Mokuba smirked and was about to say something when Tea pushed his large diamond number one and his card locket out of her way. He quickly grabbed her hands and sat up. Tea looked up at him, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

"Is there something wrong?" Tea asked, shocked at his sudden change of mood and grim look.

"No, it's just I've never taken this off…" Mokuba replied, clutching his duel monster's locket.

"So don't, it was just in some whip cream that's all…" Tea shrugged. She grabbed her bed sheet and wiped down the locket. "There, is that better?"

"I guess…" Mokuba answered, staring off into space.

"Is this because I'm on top? Because if your one of those guys that doesn't like that, I really don't care. I'm pretty flexible. I'll do whatever you like. Just tell me what do you want me to do to you?" Tea replied.

"Who would have a problem with that? That's the single sexiest thing I've ever heard come out of a person's mouth, but that's not it." Mokuba sighed, pulling off the necklace. Tea frowned in confusion, before she suddenly realized that his brother must be somehow connected to the duel monster card shaped necklace. When she thought about it she realized both brothers were constantly wearing them, and if she remembered duelist kingdom correctly they were lockets.

"Look if you don't want to do this, I understand." Tea said, watching as Mokuba stood up and placed the locket under the bed with a severe expression on his face. Mokuba shook his head again, and turned towards Tea.

"Just...make me feel good." Mokuba replied, capturing her mouth with his. Tea pushed him back down onto the bed.

* * *

Kaiba adjusted his tie, and glanced one more time in the bathroom mirror before exiting the men's room near his office. Roland held open Kaiba's suit jacket, and Kaiba slipped his arm inside, and pulled it on all the way after Roland had let go.

"Are you ready, Chairman Kaiba?" Roland asked. Kaiba nodded and the two continued down the hallway.

"Did Anderson confirm?" Kaiba questioned, pulling out his PDA.

"Yes, but he says that Holdenfeld won't be joining the meeting unless you make the contract non-exclusive." Roland answered.

"That's not acceptable, call Roslyn and tell her to get Smith." Kaiba ordered, hitting a white glowing button to call the elevator.

"Alright, also Johnson in PR booked the cover, and wardrobe will be provided for you." Roland mentioned. "Also Sharon confirmed lunch, and the focus group has finished evaluating the new product and the report on that should be on you desk by five." Roland explained as Kaiba checked his watch and waited for the elevator.

"Good, that's all." Kaiba waved dismissively, stepping into the elevator. Roland nodded and then headed back towards his desk. Once alone, Kaiba leaned against the elevator and blew a bang out of his face. It was slow moving days like this that he hated being at work, but work was work. It wasn't supposed to be fun nor easy, it was supposed be work. He glanced down at his watch. Mokuba at least would probably be getting out of school soon, and he'd be able to help with some of it. He turned left and was headed towards a meeting when he suddenly spotted Siegfried leaned against the door, something clearly hidden behind his back. What it was, Kaiba wasn't sure.

"Good Afternoon herr Kaiba, so nice to see you! Lovely weather we're having, is it not?" Siegfried asked upon seeing a Kaiba, a mysterious smile creeping its way onto his face.

"Why are you here?" Kaiba snapped, folding his arms across his chest.

"Me? I'm here for the same board meeting you are. The shareholders invited me themselves." Siegfried shrugged, still not letting Kaiba see what was behind his back.

Ohhira popped his head out of the large black meeting room door. "The meeting is starting now." Ohirra stated, his brown eyes showing his disapproval. "And unless you don't want me to unload all of my shares at once you'll get in here this instant, Chairman."

Kaiba glared at the man, not enjoying being talked down to. But he knew full well he was in no position to argue with the man about how unimportant it was to be punctual. He himself hated tardiness. Besides, Ohhira was a self made man, and as such his fortune was entirely his own. However, if he wanted too, he could easily throw away all that money and still be a billionaire. His close knit family were all obscenely rich and had come from long generations of money. The only reason Ohhira had made his own money at all was because he loved games and wanted to prove he was more than just an heir to a massive fortune. If he unloaded all his stock at once however, Kaiba Corp would be ruined, the man even owned more shares than Mokuba. Though Kaiba himself still owned 51 percent meaning he made all the final decisions. Shooting one final glare at Siegfried who still hadn't wiped the stupid grin off his face, he walked inside the meeting room. Siegfried trailed behind.

"Alright, now that President Kaiba is here we can start the meeting." Ohhira announced. "But before we read the minutes from the last meeting, we have some things we need to discuss with you, Chairman."

Ohhira sat down and nodded toward Siegfried. Siegfried smiled and stood next to Kaiba.

"Herr Kaiba, I've noticed that you have gotten quite thin, which is quite worrisome." Siegfried began. Kaiba narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what the man was going on about. "So I took the liberty of preparing you lunch. Actually, it's quite the nostalgic one you see, because I wrapped it up just the way you like it."

"What are you…?" Kaiba hissed, but he was cut off by the soft thud of a small garbage bag being plopped down unceremoniously in front of him.

"Dig in, herr Kaiba." Siegfried said, as a triumphant smirk spread across his face.

"_Motherfu_…" Kaiba shouted, jumping out his seat and trying to tackle him to the floor.

"That's enough!" Ohhira shouted, doing his best to restrain him from ripping the pink haired man's head off.

"Let go of me!" Kaiba demanded. He struggled to get away from the grip of five of his board members, including Ohhira.

"I said enough!" Ohhira reiterated, his loud voice booming. "Or we all will dump our shares and Kaiba Corp will be ruined." Kaiba closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm down.

"What do you expect from someone who didn't have parents to teach them any better? We all know Gozaboro didn't care about things like etiquette after all." Siegfried laughed, tossing his hair flippantly. Kaiba clenched his fist, but Ohhira grabbed his arm before he could punch Siegfried.

"Mr. Schroeder if you expect to gain any thing from this you better sit down and shut up. Or need I remind you that our company has been outperforming your company in every way and should Kaiba care enough to, I'm quite sure he could destroy you." Ohhira snapped, shooting Siegfried a warning glare. The rest of the board returned to their seats, but Kaiba remained standing. He glared down at Siegfried, his eyes looking as though they could strike Siegfried dead all on their own. Siegfried swallowed his pride and sat down first. Kaiba soon headed towards his own seat, making sure to shove Siegfried's chair into the table (and subsequently bruising the pink haired man's chest) before taking his own seat.

"Now then, returning to the matter at hand." Ohhira sighed, his chocolate eyes closing in irritation.

"Chairman Kaiba, How come we weren't informed about this video earlier?" A large man in a pinstripe grey suit asked, as he folded his arms across his chest.

"With all due respect, Moore, I didn't think anyone had kept it. And I still don't see how my past is any of you people's business." Kaiba snapped.

"Don't get smart with me little boy, when your past interferes with me making money, then it's my damn business." Moore hissed.

"Moore, need I remind you that as the person with least amount of shares here, and as the person who merely serves as the head of my legal department you are the most easily replaced?" Kaiba threatened. "I am twenty three years old, old man, and you will not call me a boy again unless you want to be the one to eat this!" Kaiba growled, shoving the garbage bag towards him.

"Where is your brother?" Ohhira suddenly asked, checking his watch. "I know he was supposed to be late but he should've been here fifteen minutes ago."

Kaiba checked his own watch and growled low in his throat. "He must've been sidetracked by his coach or something." Kaiba replied, trying to act as nonchalant about Mokuba's tardiness as possible. However the shareholders only convened when there was something important to discuss, such as goals for the next quarter, these meetings were never unimportant.

"I suppose this is what we get for dealing with a couple of street urchins." One of Kaiba's shareholders mumbled, his steely blue eyes darting away from the side so as not to catch Kaiba's own eyes.

"I am not a street urchin." Kaiba ground out through gritted teeth.

"Your mother was a stripper and prostitute. Your father couldn't keep a job. First he was chauffer, then he was bouncer at a strip club, then he was a butcher. Any idiot could do those jobs, yet he kept getting fired from them. The only reason they were able to leave you any money is because the idiot hurt himself at the butcher shop and then had the nerve to sue the manager for his own clumsiness. Hell once the money was gone your own family didn't want anything to do with you pathetic losers." Moore snapped.

"That is not what happened. Don't you dare talk about my family that way or I'll rip your tongue out and feed it to you." Kaiba threatened. "And where exactly did you get this information?"

"Heh, once we saw the ad we looked into the place and found out your real name. That's when I realized I purchased that whore you call a mother several times. I kind of miss her, in fact. She rarely ever said no to anything you wanted to do, so long as you were willing to pay for it. Still, once we found out your parent's names, I knew exactly who you were. " An elderly board member chimed in.

"Liar…" Kaiba spat out as he jumped out of his seat, but the older man just yawned and pulled a remote from his pocket. A small projection screen lowered from the ceiling, revealing a pornographic video that had been paused and muted. The old man hit play on the remote and soon the woman in the video's face was revealed. It was his mother, clearly in the throes of passion. Kaiba picked up his chair and threw it at the projection screen causing it to crumble to the ground and break before the twisted board member could un-mute the video or before Kaiba could see anymore of it.

"_Nope, can't do it._" Kaiba said, before trying to punch the old man in the face. Once again, however he was held back from doing so by everyone else in the room. This time it was a good ten minutes before he calmed down and he actually had to be shoved into the next room. Kaiba waltzed back in, clearly still angry. Siegfried decided not to push him any further; he was now dangerous to be around and he highly doubted the next person to disrespect him would live to tell the tale.

"Now, Mr. Kaiba I understand how you get when someone threatens your family. And since your mother is now the dearly departed, the only thing that is left of her is her memory and her successful baby boys. Most people assume she must've been incredible…" Ohhira began.

"She was incredible." Kaiba corrected.

"She sure was, incredible in the…." The elderly board member began, relishing in the younger man's obvious humiliation.

"Thompson, finish that statement and I will neuter you like a dog." Kaiba said, cutting him off with an eerie, deadly calm.

"I'd like to see you try." Thompson hissed. Kaiba pulled out a gun from his boot and loaded it. Kaiba stood up and walked over to Thompson and positioned the gun in between his legs.

"What was that, I didn't quite hear you?" Kaiba asked; a blank and bored look on his face. He obviously had no qualms about actually going through with the plan.

"N-nothing." Thompson stuttered and gulped, he was about five seconds away from wetting himself. It had been easy to be brave when he known Kaiba wouldn't be able to actually hit him or retaliate. This was something else entirely.

"I didn't think so." Kaiba replied; unloading the gun, double checking it couldn't hurt him, and then sticking it back into his boot as he made his way back to his seat. Ohhira licked his lips nervously and wrung his hands.

"Listen, Kaiba. None of us want your past exposed in this manner. You make us far too much money and are far too invaluable of an asset to this company to want to want that. All of our chosen trades are different; you picked us out for that specific reason. We couldn't run this company better than you can, as I'm the only one who knows anything about games. And while I design games better than anyone in this country, you design them better than anyone else in the business. Not only that but the accessories and technology you've invented to further enhance existing games has opened up whole new industries." Ohhira insisted.

"Besides the people love you, your image has become synonymous with the company. You hold many of the most important job titles and are the heart and soul of this company whether we like it or not. I honestly hope that you have children that are just as talented as you or Kaiba Corp is going to hit a rough patch when you die." Moore admitted with great irritation.

"This is why we all decided to come up with a plan that will stop this before it actually can do anything to your reputation." Ohhira concluded.

"And just what is your plan?" Kaiba asked, irritated they had already come up with one. It was his life's story, his past, and it wasn't anyone else's business in his opinion.

"First off you sell Valkner her shares of her company back, above market value and with a contract that stipulates that Kaiba Corp gets to make all the games that come built into their cars for as long as the two companies both exist and Kaiba Corp is willing to make them. Second, you develop a new game with Siegfried and reduce the seventy-thirty split you've previously offered him for your help to a sixty-forty split in return for his silence on the issue. You will also agree to scale back advertising in Germany. Lastly, you will announce you are going to write an autobiography. You will do an interview for Revealed magazine and a television interview prior to writing the book that will explain (in much less detail than the book will have) about your decision to write the book and about your past." Ohhira announced sitting back in his chair.

"What would splashing my life's story all over the pages of Revealed magazine accomplish? I refuse." Kaiba hissed.

"Don't be an idiot herr Kaiba." Schroeder replied, "If that tape is released without all of the pitiful details people will think much less of you than if you told the whole story your self. Don't make your life's story just one more thing big business is trying to cover up."

"If you tell anyone any of that information Schroeder I will first kill you and then I'll commit suicide, how's that for an incentive to keep your mouth shut. Even if you survive the attack, do you care to explain what you did to your little brother to drive me that far? Mokuba is the only person Leon really has to talk to. How would it look if you were responsible for the death of his only family?" A stunned silence enveloped the room.

"You can't be serious…" Schroeder whispered. His eyes widened in disbelief.

"Ask Yugi Moto…?" Kaiba smirked. "As for the Valkners, tell them that they have to make me a better deal. I'll deal with that video myself."

"Chairman Kaiba if you really think…." Ohhira stood up out of his seat, and blocked Kaiba's exit.

"You know, the great things about suicide notes are that people tend to take them at face value. What a shame it would be if all of your… shall we say less than legal endeavors were to make their way into mine." Kaiba smirked. Ohhira sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Chairman Kaiba, will you at least think over our plan for the day? I know today must've been quite a shock but I really do feel this is the best course of action. We'll reconvene tomorrow and you can give us you're answer then. Please don't do anything rash."

"Fine." Kaiba bit out, turning his head to side. He didn't like conceding anything but even he had to admit that his latest plan was spat out in pure desperation to keep his life together. He also had no intention of killing himself, but he knew they would react exactly the way they all had if he threatened to. Ohhira visibly relaxed before a look of concern washed over his features.

"Oh and Kaiba please don't…." Ohhira began, placing a hand on Kaiba's shoulder.

"Relax; I wouldn't throw my life away for no reason." Kaiba announced loud enough for everyone to here. Siegfried hadn't even realized he was holding his breath until he breathed a sigh of relief.

Kaiba waltzed out of the room and immediately called his secretary. After making sure she reschedule all of his work he left the office, snatching off his cream colored tie on the way out of the door. His limo was outside waiting for him and made a mental note to give a raise to his secretary.

"Gardner's house." Kaiba stated to the driver, shrugging off his white suit jacket. The driver nodded and Kaiba rolled up the privacy window. He leaned back against his chair and decided to give his brother a call and find out why he still hadn't showed up for work.

* * *

Mokuba pinned Tea against the wall of shower and smirked.

"Mind if I join you?" He asked, while closing the shower curtain and flinging the towel that had been wrapped around his waist to the side.

"Going for round three?" Tea smirked and entangled her fingers in Mokuba's hair and captured his mouth with hers. It didn't take long for Mokuba to push her against the wall and begin dominating the kiss.

"I'm bringing Sexy back…" Justin Timberlake's voice suddenly filtered it's way through the pink and white polka dotted curtains, though the sound was barely audible thanks to the sound of the shower beating against their flesh and running down the drain. Mokuba growled in frustration.

"Damn it, that's probably Seto about to have a meltdown because I'm late for work." Mokuba explained, exiting the shower. He grabbed his jeans off the floor and reached into their pocket, pulling out a sleek silver cell phone. Tea growled in frustration and grabbed the shampoo to wash her hair. She had every intention of taking a real shower since Mokuba most likely would have to immediately leave for work, which meant her fun was over. Mokuba wrapped a towel around his waist and left the bathroom.

"Kaiba Mokuba." Mokuba greeted automatically, not bothering to check to see who was calling.

"_Mokuba, where the hell are you_?" Kaiba asked upon hearing his brother's voice.

"_At Tea's house hanging out, we're thinking about calling the guys over and then ordering a pizza and watching some movies._" Mokuba lied.

"_What are you doing over there? The board held a meeting today, it was very important. I needed you there_." Kaiba snapped, irritated.

"_Oh man that was today, I am so sorry_." Mokuba apologized, running a hand through his damp hair. "_Well you can just brief me on what happened when I get to work_."

"_That won't be necessary_." Kaiba hissed.

"_Look Seto it's not like I haven't missed one of these boring things before, and I've apologized, so what's the big deal_?" Mokuba snapped.

"_You don't understand!_" Kaiba yelled, his voice suddenly cracking, "_I…was…you don't understand._"

"_Understand what Seto_?" Mokuba asked hearing the distress in his brother's voice. Although he was certain that anyone besides him would just think Kaiba was coming down with a slight cold or wouldn't have noticed the slight change at all, Mokuba could tell his brother was very upset.

"_I'll tell you when I get there._" Kaiba sighed, looking out the window. Kaiba's face was a complete blank, devoid of any emotion. He made sure of it. The privacy window may have been up, but there was no telling if the driver had bugged the backseat. He wouldn't put anything past the chauffer no matter how many years of loyalty the man had given him. Any video of him losing his composure would certainly net a lot of money, and the man was only human.

"_Ok big brother…"_ Mokuba replied, concern permeating his voice. "_Wait a minute, your coming here_?!" Mokuba suddenly replied doing his best to keep from shouting. "_When will you get here?_"

"…_In about 15 minutes. Why_?" Kaiba questioned suspiciously.

"_No reason…"_ Mokuba lied.

"_Okay…well then, see you in 15 mintues_. _Love you forever._" Kaiba said.

"_Forever and ever…_" Mokuba quickly mumbled, before hanging up the phone. Mokuba suddenly froze. They hadn't said goodbye in that way in a long time, they used to do it before they were adopted every time they were separated for whatever reason and had to communicate by phone. Of course the separations were mostly field trips since his brother refused to be adopted by anyone else, but even the prospect of going on a field trip seemed dangerous when so many people in their life had either died or turned against them. It was a comforting promise of brotherly love that made things much easier. However, Gozaboro had seen to the death of that, so why would his brother suddenly say it?

"_Shit he's suspicious!" _ Mokuba yelled, busting his way back into the bathroom. Tea stared at him, already fully dressed again and blow drying her hair.

"_He knows about us?"_ Tea panicked, her arm falling limply to her side.

"_Not of you, of me! He only brings up the past in little subtle ways when he thinks I'm purposely doing something that could potentially cause strife between us. Or every time I bring up the idea of moving to America. He thinks I would never visit or call or something._" Mokuba corrected jumping into the shower. Tea frowned.

"_Cause strife between you, what do you mean_?" Tea inquired. She had thought she was the only thing that had ever even had the potential to cause that kind of tension.

"_Well you see, back in middle school I was given a family tree project. We were supposed to make a family tree and then give a brief explanation of what every person we could was like and their basic stats and how they were related to us. Seto handed me Gozaboro's family tree." _ Tea frowned and returned to drying her hair, this time with her towel since she didn't want to disturb Mokuba's story. Mokuba squeezed some shampoo into his palms and quickly massaged it into his scalp. "_I didn't want to use that because Gozaboro is not related to us. At first Seto outright forbade me from telling the truth. But when he realized I was determined to tell the truth and that he couldn't really stop me without going through great attention-grabbing lengths he made up a new tactic. He pulled out a photo album one day and just showed me every picture, explaining details to me I had kept begging for. Then we came across a picture of Gozaboro. Big brother just sighed, put the album down, stared at the carpet for a moment and then walked upstairs and left. After that, even though he'd given me some of the info I needed, I couldn't put the info on the project and have a clean conscience._" Mokuba turned off the shower and stepped out, rewrapping his towel around his waist and shaking droplets of moisture free from his long black locks.

"_After all, he'd sacrificed so much for me as his not so subtle hint told me; I could do a little something for him. Ever since then he brings up something from our past whenever he feels as though I'm might do something to jeopardize our relationship. It's his way of stopping me from doing stupid before he has to yell about it. Although, it's not like I could ever forget about him and abandon him the way the rest of our family did. It's just; sometimes I wish people saw the person I see. I want good things for him, which is the only reason I'm letting you get away with what you're getting away with." _ Mokuba pointed out. He should've been getting dressed but now that he was getting his feelings off his chest he couldn't stop. "_I love you, and he is falling in love with you. You're obviously torn and it would do no good to hurt him before you've made up your mind. Once you do, if you pick me I'll help you get him to break up with you in a way he wouldn't be upset with me if we started dating. And if you pick him I'll pretend as though none of this ever happened and I promise to try my best not to be bitter or angry about it. I can only promise to try though Tea, because unlike him I've known about how great you are for a very long time. And unlike him, I know about this little dirty little triangle we've got going on."_

"Mokuba…" Tea bit her lower lip, and then glanced down at the counter of her bathroom sink. Her eyes widened as she glanced at her thin silver watch she'd laid down on the counter.

"Oh man, we've only got five more minutes until he gets here!" Tea announced. Mokuba quickly threw on his clothes. Tea started the blow dryer backup again.

"What's that for?" Mokuba shouted over the noise of the blow dryer.

"You have a wet spot on the bottom of your shirt, where you got water all on my bathroom floor." Tea yelled, turning on the blow dryer and aiming toward the spot. Mokuba didn't have time to glance down, once the small spot was dry Tea turned the dryer onto Mokuba's hair. As soon as it was dry, he quickly grabbed a brush and brushed his hair. Once smooth, Mokuba ran his fingers through it and shook it up so it looked a little wilder, the way he'd left with it looking that morning. They ran down the stairs and jumped into the couch at the same time turning on the television when the doorbell rang. Tea breathed a sigh of relief that they'd made it in the nick of time. Mai arched an eyebrow at their behavior before looking through the peephole to see who it was. She'd just gotten back from work and not five minutes after she'd come home the doorbell had rang. Her eyes widened upon seeing who the ticked off looking person was on the other end and glanced at Tea and Mokuba who were a little to perfect looking for it to be the middle of the day. She could've sworn Mokuba played sports, he looked a little worn out but his hair and clothes were immaculate. She shot them a dirty look upon realizing what had happened and opened the door for Kaiba to come in.

"Mokuba since when does being my brother serve as an adequate excuse for being late to work, never mind the fact you missed probably one of the worst meetings of my entire life!" Kaiba yelled, gently pushing Mai out of his way.

"Hello to you too…" Mai grumbled.

"I already apologized Seto what do you want from me!"

"Why did Valentine have to open the door? You should've been standing outside waiting for me. You know by now when I need to speak to you in private. But instead you're here watching television not giving a damn!" Kaiba thundered. He crossed his arms across his chest and glared at Mokuba.

"Big brother, I didn't mean to upset you this much." Mokuba apologized again, realizing something huge must've happened at the meeting.

"I know you didn't, but if you're not going to take your job seriously and you're serious about just leaving me to play sports in this country than do me a big favor and tell me. Because I feel like you don't even care." Kaiba snapped, turning his head away from Mokuba so he wouldn't look into his brother eyes. He knew his brother was probably hurt by the accusation that he didn't care about him, but he didn't hang with him anymore. He didn't come to important meetings; he didn't even act like the same carefree Mokuba. Graduation was only a month and week after his birthday and Mokuba had been telling him even before he'd run into Tea again that he was thinking about studying and living in America. Kaiba looked at Mokuba who'd been stunned into silence, then quickly averted his gaze again, feigning disinterest. It was then that he noticed a familiar pair of leopard print boxers on the ground poking out from underneath the couch.

"Mokuba is that your underwear?" Kaiba asked walking over to the underwear and pinching the waistband with his index and thumb. He gently lifted it from the ground and held them at arms length as though they were radioactive.

"Um, no?" Mokuba lied quickly, biting his lower lip. He shifted uncomfortably in seat.

"Don't lie to me; these are yours. I distinctly remember arguing with you about them when we ordered new ones from that catalog." Kaiba hissed, flinging them at the boy.

"I can explain…" Mokuba began growing nervous as his brother glared at him. Kaiba stalked over to Mokuba and leaned in close so that they were eye to eye, Kaiba searching Mokuba's wide fearful eyes to see if he was right.

"As I thought, I can't smell that stupid American cologne you're constantly wearing…" Kaiba said, rising to his full height. "You came here to get laid didn't you…that's why you forgot about the meeting. At first I thought you deliberately didn't come because you don't care, but that's not it. The only other time you've forgotten is when you were with that little slut a year ago."

"Aki isn't a…" Mokuba protested meekly.

"I even hate that name!" Kaiba spat out. "And don't try to change the subject. Am I right or did you miss the meeting because you just don't give a damn?"

"I-I…" Mokuba stuttered. Kaiba growled.

"What have I taught you about stuttering? Have a backbone and tell me the truth!" Kaiba shouted.

"Seto, it's not that I don't care…" Mokuba replied biting his lower lip. "It's just that I…" Mokuba began drawing in a deep breath to calm himself down. Kaiba whirled around however and missed the tear that had fallen from Mokuba's face.

"And you…" Kaiba hissed turning around so he was facing Tea who had inched next to Mai just incase Kaiba tried to kill her.

"Kaiba…" Tea began, before Kaiba raised a hand to silence her.

"Shut up Tea. How I raise my brother is none of your concern." Kaiba snapped, turning his attention to Mai.

"Just because you left Wheeler yesterday doesn't give you the right to exploit my little brother. He's still in high school; you're ten years older than he is. You're lucky this didn't happen a year ago or I would've pressed charges. Don't you ever even bat an eyelash at my brother again or I will make your life a living hell do I make myself clear." Kaiba yelled. Tea and Mokuba's mouth hung open and they stared at Kaiba's back in complete shock. Mai looked at Tea and Mokuba's stunned and pleading faces then at Kaiba's angry one. Kaiba was incredibly scary when he was angry and would become worse if he ever found out she tried to cover up what Tea and Mokuba were doing, but she'd done worse things in her life.

"I'm sorry Kaiba you weren't supposed to find out…" Mai apologized lowering her gaze from his so he couldn't tell that she was lying.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Kaiba snapped. Mai shook her head, trying her best to look apologetic, guilty and ashamed when all reality she was just irritated. "Was there any video?" Kaiba growled.

"No, I swear." Mai replied.

"Prove it." Kaiba insisted. Mai frowned and Mokuba shook his head, regaining his composure.

"Seto there wasn't anything…" Mokuba said.

"As far as you know Mokuba, now get in the car. I don't want to hear another word out of you; I'm very disappointed in you right now." Kaiba said softly. Mokuba's eyes widened and sniffed, trying to his best to hold back tears as he made his way out of Tea's house. Tea frowned and mouthed an apology to Mai (who was beginning to lose her temper) as she was slung over Kaiba's shoulder and marched up the stairs. Tea hung her head in shame and sit on the couch as she listened to her friend get picked apart for her own misdeeds. Kaiba's yelling could be heard from down the stairs and she could only imagine how angry and embarrassed Mai must've felt as he investigated her room for cameras. Finally the shouting died down and Kaiba came down the stairs along with Mai who was glaring daggers at the man's back. She was obviously about five seconds away from slapping him which wouldn't end well.

"Gardner I came over here to relax but in light of recent circumstances I no longer feel as though I'd be able to do so here. We'll have to take a rain check as I have other pressing matters to attend to." Kaiba apologized, before slamming the door not even waiting for a reply.

"Mai I am so, so sorry that happened." Tea apologized, tears streaming down her face. Mai glared at her and shook her head.

"Don't talk to me right now, and by the way you owe me." Mai huffed, grabbing a water bottle out of the refrigerator and then marching up the stairs to be alone. In truth though she was grateful she had the chance to at least to do something for the girl. It was better Kaiba was angry with her. Besides, she owed a lot more to Joey and his friends for the way she acted when Dartz had tried to destroy the world.

* * *

Joey Wheeler paced back and forth in the lobby of the Kaiba mansion, his browns eyes narrowed in concentration and his fingertips rubbing his chin in frustration. The more he'd thought about the way he'd acted when he and Mai had been out sampling cheese, the more he'd regretted his words. But Mai Valentine wasn't the kind of girl who would just accept an apology, no matter how sincere. You had to prove to her that you were sorry, as she believed actions spoke louder than words. He still remembered how she'd come back to Domino and shredded all the powerful cards that Dartz had given her with a pair of scissors and how she would've shred her precious Harpy Lady cards had he not stopped her. She'd even deleted Valon's phone number out of her cell phone all in an attempt to prove she was sorry she'd ever entered that organization. If he wanted to win her back he'd have to do something equally as important, but he didn't know what. He was concentrating so hard that he jumped as soon as he'd heard Mokuba's voice. He hadn't heard them come in the room despite the fact that he was pacing back and forth right in front of the door.

"Joey you look like something just crawled up your butt and died." Mokuba said; confusion and concern etched into his voice.

"Tch it's probably just because there isn't any dog food in this house." Kaiba laughed haughtily. Joey shot Kaiba a dirty look but was really too worried about how to win Mai back to care about anything the other man said. Kaiba shoved his boots into the golden cubby next to the door and shoved his coat into a waiting butler's arms. "Mokuba go to your room, you're grounded." Kaiba ordered. Mokuba cast one last concerned glance toward Joey then quickly ran up the stairs lest an argument about why exactly he was grounded start up and confuse and hurt Joey. Kaiba glared at Joey for awhile, unnerving the blonde man.

"Uh, Kaiba, why the hell are you staring at me?" Joey asked nervously. He inwardly worried if he somehow damaged their undoubtedly ridiculously expensive carpet and Kaiba was expecting him to pay for it. But then again Kaiba would've probably just come right out and said that Joey surmised. Kaiba seemed to be fighting an inward battle with himself before rolling his eyes and cussing under his breath.

"Wheeler get your shit together we need to talk." Kaiba announced putting back on his boots. Joey stared at Kaiba as though he'd grown a third head.

"You want to talk to me?" Joey asked to make sure he heard Kaiba right.

"Since it seems that you're feeble mind is incapable of grasping even the simplest of commands, I'll repeat myself this once. Get your shit together I need to talk to you," Kaiba growled.

"Erm, okay?" Joey agreed cautiously, he was more than a little annoyed with Kaiba's tone but the CEO hadn't needed to talk to him once in the many years he'd known him. He slipped on his shoes and Kaiba flipped his cell phone on and hit a button. In less than a minute a limousine pulled up to the front. Kaiba got inside and muttered a location to Roland as Joey got in. Joey expected Kaiba to say something but he was staring out the window visibly continuing his inward fight.

"So what did you need to talk to me about?" Joey asked.

"Are you hungry?" Kaiba asked, causing Joey to give him an incredulous look.

"You wanted to talk to me about food!" Joey blurted out causing both the driver and Kaiba to both snort.

"You're even dumber than you look Wheeler, and that's saying something because you look like an overgrown monkey." Kaiba smirked.

"I'm not a monkey Kaiba!" Joey shouted, taking off his seatbelt. "Get out the car and we'll settle this once and for all, like men!"

"You're not to lay a hand on Chairman Kaiba!" Roland replied for Kaiba, pulling a gun out of a hidden pocket inside his suit and stopping the car. He pointed the gun at Joey through the privacy window. Joey froze and glared at Kaiba before quickly sitting back down and putting on his seatbelt. Joey crossed his arms over his chest and muttered darkly to himself.

"Roland relax, I can handle this mediocre idiot." Kaiba smirked, folding his arms across his chest. Roland nodded and put the gun away and continued down the road. Kaiba closed the privacy window and stared outside his tinted glass window. He knew why he was doing this but it still made him incredibly uncomfortable. He'd seen Joey tear up when he and Mokuba were reunited at Duelist Kingdom. It wasn't a lot but it was there none the less. If he got that overly emotional over something that wasn't even any of his business in the first place how would he react when had a legitimate reason to be upset. Kaiba just hoped he didn't cry. He'd never been good at dealing with sentimental nonsense. He also hated being around anyone who cried, he didn't comfort people who weren't Mokuba (and lately Tea) and he didn't like watching people cry. It disgusted him. It was the physical manifestation of weakness.

"Where are we going?" Joey asked after they had been driving for what seemed like forever. Kaiba chose to ignore the question. Joey had already taken up far too much of time as it was, and he had no intentions of making small talk with the idiot. Joey growled as Kaiba stared out the window of the limo and totally tuned him out. Joey saw a pair of noise canceling headphones attached to what appeared to be a radio and placed them on his head. He quickly found a radio station he liked and tuned out Kaiba for the rest of the car ride.


	16. Love

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or Sexy back

English

_Japanese_

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* * *

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Not many people knew this, but Gozaboro Kaiba had once owned a dog. In fact, he'd owned several. He loved them. Not in the sweet way that compelled small children to want to pet every animal they met or the sentimentalist way that drove some vegetarians to adopt abused animals and volunteer there time at animal shelters. No he loved them because they couldn't talk back, because they could be the most brutal killers on Earth and because they did what he said when he said it. They were also extremely useful. It was easy to cover up you killed someone if you let a dog kill them. As long as no one saw you there wasn't really a way to prove that the dog simply hadn't gotten loose. He'd trained the ones he didn't want getting loose to eat the remains of his victims, the pieces too big for them going to his white tiger. Yes, Gozaboro Kaiba loved dogs. But there was only one dog he'd ever given a name. He called it Kitsune. It wandered around the house from time to time but mostly it slept in his room. It had come into their lives one night when it had killed one of his many other dogs and then just slept on the stoop as though it owned the house. It was vicious and it was mean but it obeyed commands well. It had probably once been a police dog as it was neat, it was smart and it had stolen many a piece of meat from the confused cooks, and it killed on command.

Kaiba found himself thinking about the dog as he watched Joey's cola can get crushed in his iron tight grip, red aluminum jutting out at different edges like dogs fur mangled together with its blood. The day he'd kill Gozaboro's dog, slipping massive amounts of rat poison in its food then beating it with the same riding whip that Gozaboro had beat with him countless times and crushing its jaw with his boot had been the day he first truly, however ironically felt like Gozaboro's son. He'd loved the power, the thrill of taking away something important from someone he hated. Yet he'd felt remorse as well, a nagging feeling that he'd learned to kill eventually. However it was that feeling of intense guilt that was he was reminded of when he looked at Joey's gritted teeth and the red aluminum of the can of soda. He'd done it for Mokuba and for Tea. He didn't want Tea to tell Joey what had happened between his brother and Mai and have to live with a roommate from hell, and he wasn't ready for her to move in with him; nor would she allow him to simply pay to relocate her. He didn't want Mokuba to lose a life long friend, Joey, Yugi, and the others were important to him no matter how much he himself despised that fact. So once again the burden of responsibility had fallen squarely on his shoulders.

"_Who was it_?" Joey finally asked, once he'd calmed down enough not to choke Kaiba. After all, for once he wasn't the problem.

"_I've told you all you need to know_," Kaiba replied nonchalantly, letting his fork fall back into the saucer of small crumbs where a cheesecake had once been. For a moment the clink of the fork hitting the plate was the only sound between them.

"_Like hell you have, you can't just tell someone you found out their fiancés been cheating on them and then not give a name_!" Joey exclaimed, point an accusatory finger at Kaiba.

"_Ex-fiancé­­­­­­—_" Kaiba corrected.

Joey frowned, "_Just because the wedding has been put off doesn't mean our relationship is over with moneybags._"

"_Well evidently Valentine didn't get that memo_," Kaiba smirked. Joey became red in the face and stood up so fast from the red chair he'd been sitting in that it fell to the ground with a loud bang. Kaiba lazily flicked his gaze up to meet Joey's glare.

"_Kaiba you bastard if you don't give me a name, I'll beat it out of you!_" Joey insisted cracking his knuckles. Kaiba laughed haughtily.

"_Are you threatening me?_" Kaiba asked with a smug smirk on his face and a look of malicious amusement in his eyes. "_Wheeler you'd have a better chance of dueling your way out of a paper bag, and we both know how impossible that is for someone as mediocre as you._"

"_That's it Kaiba­—_" Joey shouted, "_You're dead_."

"_You will not lay a hand on the Chairman._" Roland sighed, catching Joey's fist mere seconds before it connected to Kaiba's unflinching face. A smirk tugged at Kaiba's lips and Joey let out a frustrated growl. When he suddenly had an epiphany; Kaiba was going to great lengths to protect both him and this other person, whoever they were. But Kaiba also seemed much more interested in protecting whoever it was from harm than in helping him. There were only two people on the entire planet Kaiba would want to protect so badly and somehow he didn't think Tea was the one sleeping around with Mai.

"_You know what; forget it I'll figure this out on my own._" Joey growled, storming out of the diner. Now that he thought about it, Mai wouldn't cheat on him. Obviously she'd simply taken the rap for Tea since Kaiba had almost caught them together. Kaiba smirked and took three short strides to catch up with Joey, considering they were both going back to the mansion together.

"_I'm glad you've finally realized that I'm superior to you in everyway, and you won't be getting more information out of me,_" Kaiba taunted. Joey clenched his fists together wanting to badly to inform the other man just what had really happened just to wipe that smirk off his smug face.

"_You know what I really don't get about you Kaiba, if you hate me so much why are you going through so much trouble to make sure I don't marry someone who would cheat on me? Why risk injury?_" Joey asked suddenly. Kaiba paused.

"_I don't hate you mutt, you're not worthy of my hatred. If I hated you, I'd have to care about you and I don't_." Kaiba shrugged.

"_Well, if that's true there is still no reason for you to even bother telling me about all of this._"

"_The love I have for you as the person who is like a brother to her is much greater than the general dislike I have for you as a person,_" Kaiba shrugged. "_I realized that Tea could never choose between you two idiots, for who knows what reason, and that both of your idiotic behavior would ultimately cause her great pain. So I've decided to end that pain before she ever feels it and if that means helping you out, so be it. It doesn't mean I like you, and it doesn't mean I want to be your little friend, it just means I refuse to let you be a burden on Tea's mind. The girl tortures herself needlessly whenever you idiots, her so called friends, are in trouble._"

Joey wasn't what you'd call book smart, but he was smarter than people gave him credit for when it came to people. He didn't always know the right thing to say, he didn't always do the right thing, and he often didn't know how to help others emotionally when they needed it, but he could always tell when someone was being genuine or was in need of help or comfort. Kaiba was far more selfless then he let on, and wasn't as strong as he led others to believe. He couldn't seem to wrap his mind around the concept of friendship. Until he did, he'd always be weak in Joey's opinion. Joey sighed, well at least he understood family and everything wasn't horrible in his life. They both wordlessly entered Kaiba's limo and Roland drove off.

Family, it was the only thing Kaiba really had at the end of the day. Joey thought back to his own father and mother and how their ceaseless bickering had caused his mother to leave. She'd betrayed him and left him behind with a man who had given up on life. Who had stopped caring about himself, let alone his son, and who'd replace his angry sobs at night with the liquid solace of the bottle effectively shutting family and friends away for good. He didn't know how bad he would've become if Serenity had turned her back on him as well. It would've been incredibly easy for her to do, much easier than fighting for your right to see a family member while struggling against eminent blindness at the tender age of five. Kaiba was similar in that respect, if it wasn't for Mokuba's blind faith in his brother, if Kaiba wasn't forced to be a role model, he'd be a much worse person. He'd probably be the kind of person that needed to be locked away from society. He shivered at the thought of who'd Kaiba become if he ever found out about Mokuba and Tea's tryst. Which is why as much as Joey wanted to wipe that smug smirk off his face, the one that seemed almost happy at the idea of pointing out his failure in selecting a wife, he couldn't do it. Besides it wasn't like Mai had actually cheated on him or anything.

"Wheeler, snap out of it we're back." Kaiba snapped, sneering at Joey. Joey realized they were in fact back at the mansion and that he'd spaced out for the entire car ride back.

"Easy for you to say…" Joey grumbled.

"She's a C-ranked duelist anyway." Kaiba scoffed, rolling his eyes. Joey smiled and shut the door, sticking his hands in his pockets. He knew the insult was as good a veiled 'she wasn't good enough for you anyway' pat on the back as he was ever going to get out of the CEO. He threw a Kaiba a peace sign over his back before heading back inside the mansion, as Kaiba's limo sped off, to be with Tea he assumed. He'd never wanted to slap one of his friends on behalf of Kaiba before, but he really wanted to knock some sense into Tea. Unfortunately, she wasn't a boy like Tristan, so he couldn't just punch her in the face to make her come to her senses. But maybe Serenity could….Joey quickly ran upstairs and flung open the door to Serenity's room and saw Serenity sitting on the edge of the bed cross legged, playing with Rebecca's hair. Rebecca look mildly irritated and he could tell the idea wasn't hers, but that wasn't important at the moment.

"_Hey Serenity, Rebecca, I got a job for you_." Joey grinned. Serenity and Rebecca looked at him with a baffled expression.

"_What is it Joey_?" Serenity asked concern etched into her voice.

"_I need you to slap the mess out of Tea for me_." Joey replied, his big grin getting even bigger. Serenity fell off the bed in surprise as Rebecca jumped to her feet excitedly. Serenity rubbed her back side and stood up, a blush spreading across her face.

"Now that sounds like my idea of good time!" Rebecca exclaimed. Serenity shot her a withering look.

"_Why_?" Serenity asked in great confusion, turning towards Joey.

"_Who cares why_?" Rebecca laughed, punching her fist into her hand. "Joey obviously wouldn't ask us to do it unless he thought it would help her, and knocking the ignorance out of people sounds like way more fun than getting my hair done!"

"_You're the one who asked me if Mai had given me any good tips on getting a guy's attention that didn't involve wearing as little as possible_!" Serenity pointed out, poking her arm. Rebecca shrugged.

"_You finally got over your crush on Yugi_?" Joey asked. Rebecca rolled her eyes.

"Oh please, you didn't honestly think I was one of those silly, wispy little girls that would dwell on a crush for years as though it were the only thing that defined me, did you?"

"You never told me which guy you're after this time." Serenity suddenly realized.

"There is no specific guy per se, I just haven't gotten laid in over a year and I don't want the only time I do get laid to be when I dress like…Mai for example." Rebecca answered dismissively.

"See that's why it's great to have a boyfriend, Duke and I don't do it every day, but when we do, do it, it's like two, three times per night." Serenity replied shyly, blushing and giggling. Joey gagged and covered his ears, his face turning green. The two girls seemed to have forgotten he was there though. "But besides that, I'm truly in love with him. He gives me companionship, love, trust, hope and he is there for me whenever I need him to be, he's my every thing. I just know you're going to have find that yourself."

"Please spare me the true love speeches Serenity, and don't think you're going to lure me into this little fantasy land just because you mention how much fun it is to get laid whenever you want some. Besides, didn't Duke cheat on you?" Rebecca pointed out.

"_Yes, but we worked through that_." Serenity bit out.

"Please that's enough already!" Joey begged. Serenity scratched the back of her head and gave him an apologetic smile.

"_Sorry big brother_." Serenity apologized, bowing her head in shame.

"_It's okay Serenity and if Duke ever does it again, don't worry I'll beat the tar out of him. I'd do anything for you, you're my little sister_."

"_Oh, Joey_!" Serenity cried out and hugged Joey. Rebecca rolled her eyes; those two were cheesier than fondue at times.

"Anyway, why do did you want us to punch Tea again? Because I got to say you're sucking all of the fun right out of it." Rebecca reminded them.

"Oh, yeah, well Tea is being really stupid by dating the Kaiba brothers. And if Kaiba ever finds out he is likely to lose what little good is left in him and snap and kill everyone until I stop him of course. He won't be able to lay a hand on Tea or Mokuba while I'm around but there is always the chance he'd shoot up Kaiba Corp or something like that. He is not the most um, uh, what's the word for you know when somebody isn't quite right in the head."

"Sane?" Rebecca offered. Joey shook his head. "Stable…?"

"Yeah, he isn't stable. I know what its like to not be wanted by your own family, and let me tell you it isn't a picnic."

"Joey…" Serenity sobbed, wrapping her arms around Joey's neck. Joey patted his sister on the back.

"I'm alright sis, it's just I had Yugi, and my father didn't beat me. Sure he threw beer bottles and stuff at me when he got mad but I was always able to duck and he was always too drunk to do much beyond that. He really only managed to hit me maybe eleven or twelve times tops. Besides when he was sober he'd be off gambling. Kaiba wasn't so lucky. I use to think it had ruined him beyond repair. That he was, and would always be a stuck up jerk. The kind of person no one could break through to. The kind of person you couldn't feel too sorry for because they were so evil themselves that you kind of wondered if they deserved it in the first place. Or the kind of person that couldn't be saved, who been turned too evil and needed to be locked away from good people before they were allowed to ruin someone else. But then, today, I realized what I guess Yugi saw in him all along. That he isn't beyond saving, that he can be helped it just takes a lot of work."

"Yugi is kind of special that way," Rebecca agreed, "But what did he do to make you think that?"

"He warned me that Mai was cheating on me..." Joey stated.

"She did what!" Rebecca and Serenity both shouted in unison.

"Relax, she didn't and I don't think she ever would. He was trying to protect Mokuba from getting his face bashed in or his feelings hurt or something, so he wouldn't tell me who she cheated on me with. That's when I realized there were only two people he would want to protect, and I knew Tea wasn't gay. And that's when I realized Mai probably only took the rap for Tea to help her out because she still feels guilty about joining forces with Dartz."

"Wow, I'm surprised your little brain was able to comprehend something of that magnitude." Rebecca teased. Joey growled.

"Shut up Rebecca!" Joey shouted.

"Make me." She replied sticking her tongue out at him. Serenity groaned in exasperation.

"Will you two please grow up?" She complained. Rebecca sighed and crossed her arms across her chest irritated someone else was the voice of reason in the room. Besides she was having a rare moment of acting her age, she was only 19 after all, only a year and some odd weeks older than Mokuba. Joey stuck his hands in his pockets and muttered something under his breath Rebecca was sure she didn't want to hear.

"Anyway afterwards he even tried to comfort me, I think. He claimed Mai was a bad duelist." Joey finished.

"Oh yes, he called Mai a bad duelist that must mean he's a good guy!" Rebecca mocked. "Look I'm not slapping Tea over him, if you ask me he needs to be knocked down a few pegs, the guy's ego is bigger than his ears."

"You don't understand Rebecca, when I see a brother and sister, or brother and brother or…"

"Siblings—" Rebecca offered realizing Joey didn't know the English word.

"Whatever, when I see siblings in trouble I want to help them, besides Tea could never live with herself if she was responsible for Kaiba turning evil and Mokuba, well I don't know what he'd do but I do remember a time when he was as ruthless as Kaiba is now."

"And you think punching Tea would solve all of this?" Serenity asked in disbelief.

"It works for Tristan." Joey pointed out. "Watch this, _hey Tristan_!" Joey called out, stalking off to go look for him. Rebecca raised an eyebrow and shot Serenity a quizzical look and Serenity shrugged as her reply. Joey came back after about five minutes with Tristan in tow.

"_You ladies needed to see me or something_?" Tristan asked with concern. He suddenly fell backwards on the ground from the force of Joey's punch.

"_Hey what was that for_." Tristan asked, rubbing his cheek and sitting up. Joey glared at him, and Tristan rolled his eyes.

"_Fine I won't get the stupid boomerang tattoo; it probably doesn't work on Australians anyway_." Tristan sighed in defeat. Rebecca and Serenity both arched an eyebrow at the same time.

"_Oh and Joey_?" Tristan asked.

"_Yeah buddy_?"

"_What are you doing here_?"

"_I'm talking to my sister_." Joey stated as though it was obvious. Tristan punched Joey in the face and they got into a wrestling match. Serenity shook her head, twenty three years old and they were still rolling around on the ground and wrestling each other instead of saying what they really felt. Sure they were both a million times more mature when it came to the important stuff, but certain things would probably never change.

"_Okay, Okay I'll go apologize to Mai for the cheese thing_," Joey complained, tapping the ground so Tristan would release him from the headlock.

"_Good_," Tristan nodded, kicking Joey one last time in the rear end before walking off.

"You see, it'll totally work," Joey groaned while rubbing his backside and shooting a dirty look at Tristan's back.

"You don't understand a thing about women, do you?" Rebecca asked shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

"Tea has to figure this out on her own Joey, as much as we'd all like to _interfere_, we can't. Tea is in love with both those guys and she has to figure out something soon because they are both falling madly in love with her too. But despite that, she still is the one that has to do the figuring out; a punch or pretty speech isn't going to work." Serenity sighed.

"And if we interfere we could ruin the chances for two them of ever finding their soul mate." Rebecca finished, sitting down on the ground again as Serenity made her way to the bed and resumed brushing Rebecca's hair.

"This sucks." Joey complained, shoving his hands in pocket and walking off.

**

* * *

**

Kaiba knocked on the door and was greeted by Mai who promptly tried to shut the door in his face but he stuck his foot in the door to stop her from shutting it and then barged in anyway. Mai growled and shut the door behind him, grabbing her magazine and heading up the stairs more than a little annoyed that of all the people in the world, Tea had to fall for the rude, arrogant CEO. Tea was oblivious however, humming music and cutting cucumbers to go inside her cucumber salad. She'd have to substitute the rice vinegar for white vinegar and Japanese cucumbers for American ones, but she figured it would still come out pretty tasty. Kaiba smirked upon realizing that she hadn't noticed him yet. He crept up behind her, grabbed her hand and whirled her around so she was facing him and claimed her mouth with his. Tea's eyes opened wide in shock and fear before she realized who it was that was kissing her. Her eyes fluttered closed and she deepened the kiss. She wrapped her free arm around his neck, she would've entangled her fingers in his hair but she was still holding the knife and had to point it away from him so she didn't accidentally cut him. They pulled away only when they finally needed oxygen. Kaiba smirked and blew a bubble with the bubble gum he was now chewing.

"Hey that's mine, give it back." Tea mock protested, setting the knife down on the counter.

"It's mine now," Kaiba smirked. "But you're welcome to try and take it from me." Kaiba teased, lowering his voice and whispering in her ear seductively. This time it was Tea who smirked and pulled him down by his collar and captured his mouth with her own. Tea found her hands roaming his body and she instinctively reached for his belt buckle. Kaiba grabbed her hands and forced them upwards, pinning them above her head and the rest of her body against the refrigerator. She groaned in frustration and Kaiba pulled away.

"Is something wrong?" Kaiba questioned, re-tucking in his hunter green sleeveless turtle neck. Tea sighed both at the lack of readjustment to her own clothing she had to make and how buttoned up Kaiba was, she didn't even know why he was wearing a turtle neck it certainly wasn't cold. Heck her shirt didn't even have sleeves.

"No it's nothing." Tea finally answered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She really had no right to get irritated with him at any rate. Kaiba frowned, deciding to just get down to the real reason he was there. The kiss had merely been a stall for time anyway, a way to get a mental reprieve from thinking about the board members wielding his past against him like a dagger meant for his heart. She was good for that, his mind tended to get clouded over with lust when he kissed her and those kinds of thoughts were pushed out of his head.

"Gardner, you, Mokuba and I have some things we need to discuss…just in case." Kaiba stated solemnly, reaching into her refrigerator and pulling out some of the already chilled ingredients from her cucumber salad. He tossed the cucumbers she'd already cut into a small bowl and poured half the contents of the rest of the salad out of the Tupperware container into a small green plastic bowel he found in Tea's cabinet. He finally shut the Tupperware container and put it away and turned towards Tea who handed him a fork. He poked at the salad a bit, obviously lost in thought. Tea returned to cutting the rest of the cucumbers up, deciding not disturb him until he was to ready to talk.

"My mother hated cucumber salad, but my dad was absolutely crazy about it." Kaiba said at last. He took a bite of the salad and said no more as though that one little tidbit of information somehow summed up everything he was thinking about. Suddenly she remembered him telling her about the video he'd made, the one featuring him eating out of a garbage can that some enemy of his had gotten hold of. He hadn't wanted anyone to find out about the tape, but obviously his board of directors had. They must have found out more than that though to have the CEO poking at his salad so listlessly, as though he wasn't eating it, simply staring through it.

"Kaiba…" Tea began placing a hand on his shoulder but he shrugged the hand off and resumed eating. He took all of three bites before running a hand through his hair and sighing.

"When you're ready to leave, I'll be in the living room." Kaiba informed her, setting the mostly uneaten salad down on the counter and leaving the room. Tea frowned and wrapped up the salad he'd tossed so carelessly on the counter up in aluminum foil and set it back in her refrigerator. She finished cutting up the salad and tossed it inside the Tupperware container and threw it back inside of the fridge. Grabbing a white towel off the counter, she made her way into the living room where Kaiba was watching television. She could hear music playing from his cell phone and he was holding it near his mouth.

"What did you want to talk about?" Tea asked, wiping her hands on the towel than tossing it on the coffee table in front of the couch and sitting next to Kaiba. Kaiba raised an index finger to silence her and she understood why when Mokuba's voice came through over the speaker phone.

"Hello, this is Kaiba Mokuba…" Mokuba's voice rang though the room, pretty loud and clear.

"Mokuba it's me." Kaiba stated, setting the phone on a small end table next to him.

"Seto, where are you?" Mokuba asked.

"At Tea's house, I decided she needed to join our discussion." Kaiba replied simply.

"Hi Mokuba!" Tea exclaimed, taking her opening.

"Am I on speaker?" Mokuba questioned.

"Yes. Look the reason I need to talk to you is this. After tomorrow our lives may never be the same." Kaiba answered. Tea's eyes widened and she heard a loud thud and vaguely realized that Mokuba must've fallen off the bed. Mokuba cleared his throat and Kaiba continued. "I was going to bring Tea over to the mansion, but I've changed my mind so I need you to get over here as soon as possible, leave immediately," he commanded. Mokuba paused for a moment and Kaiba could hear the slight jingle of a chain wallet.

"Okay I'm throwing on my jeans now; I'll be over as quickly as possible," Mokuba agreed before he hung up. Kaiba closed his phone and then his gaze flicked back to the screen. Tea bit her lower lip unsure what to say or do. Kaiba gaze flicked to her for a moment, an unreadable but slightly irritated expression marred his face. Tea tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and shifted uncomfortably. Kaiba still hadn't told her much about his past, but from what she gathered from Mokuba and the music Kaiba had played for her, it was heart-wrenchingly sad. She'd felt her heart breaking just dancing to the music composed through Kaiba's memories, and if just dancing through it had broken her heart she couldn't imagine actually living through it; whatever it was.

"Tea, how much success have you had as a dancer?" Kaiba asked after a long pause.

"I've danced on several small stages and in a few smaller productions of Broadway plays offstage. I was hired to be the understudy for one night on the Broadway production Le Star but Vivian Wong stole my role."

"Have you headlined anything?"

"Not really anything worth mentioning besides a small, one night ballet production of a play about the Dark Magician girl."

"So you've had moderate success, basically."

"I mean if you want to categorize it that way, I personally don't judge my success on things like money or…."

"But you're not famous."

"I wouldn't put it that way; per se. I mean if you're a big theater buff you'd know who I am, but…."

"So paparazzi have never stalked you."

"Will you stop cutting me off?!?" Tea exclaimed in exasperation, "To answer you question, no, I've never been stalked by the paparazzi, but a few crazy fans have come to every showing of plays I've been in and left me little gifts," Tea bit out. Kaiba said nothing, and instead flipped open his phone to see what time it was. Kaiba's eyes widened and she saw him quickly pull out his PDA and write something with the stylus before shoving it back into another compartment of his trench coat. Tea face grew red as she tried not to laugh as a sudden though hit her. Kaiba arched an eyebrow and she tried to cover up the fact she'd been about to laugh, before giving up and shaking her head and waving the hand that wasn't covering her mouth in a placating matter. Kaiba gave her a quizzical look before reaching into his coat again pulling out a pen and super tiny notebook. Tea burst out laughing clutching her sides, tears running down her face. He began sketching some designs while he waited for Mokuba, but he couldn't shake the feeling Tea was laughing at him.

"What is so funny?!?" Kaiba finally growled when he realized she wasn't going to let him squeeze in any work.

"Really it's nothing." Tea managed still giggling, especially when Kaiba put the notebook back into his pocket.

"Are you laughing at me?" Kaiba questioned. Tea turned beat read and shook her head no a little too enthusiastically. "You are laughing at me! What is so damn funny?!?" He demanded. Tea tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Promise not to kill me?" She asked. Kaiba narrowed his eyes, now he needed to know. Tea gulped and took a deep breath to calm herself down.

"I just thought you had so many pockets it was almost like you were carrying a purse!" Tea said sheepishly. Kaiba's eyes widened and his mouth hung open for a moment, encouraged by the fact that she wasn't being killed, Tea decided to explain further, this time not trying to hide to the amusement in her voice. "And then I got this visual image stuck in my head of you in one of those really big, flashy dresses some transvestites wear during drag shows and a big brown wig and you were like wearing a bra with cantaloupes shoved inside so you'd look like a brunette, Japanese version of Dolly Parton or something!" Tea said, wiping the tears that had formed from laughing so much out of her eyes.

"Why the hell does everyone think I'm gay?!?" Kaiba shouted, clearly unamused.

"Hey, I didn't call you gay! I said I had a mental picture of you as a drag queen, not all transvestites are gay you know!" Tea defended. Kaiba shot her a dirty look and Tea laughed but tried to sound sympathetic.

"Aww, I'm sorry Seto I didn't mean to offend you or anything, that is why I wasn't going to tell you." Tea pouted, rubbing Kaiba's shoulders. Kaiba pulled away and Tea used the position to get behind him and push him down face first onto the sofa. She straddled him before he had a chance to get up and pushed up the fabric of his shirt and began massaging his now exposed back. Kaiba grunted but could no longer complain. Tea leaned forward to whisper in his ear.

"There now doesn't that feel better?" Tea questioned. Kaiba grunted, which was all he really could do since his face was pressed against the sofa. Just then Tea heard a knock on the door and she moaned in frustration. She reluctantly got up and answered the door.

"Hey Tea, Where's my brother?" Mokuba asked between breaths, his hair was disheveled and his shirt was miss-buttoned, he'd obviously rushed over as soon as he could. Tea pointed, obviously irritated and Mokuba got the sense he'd interrupted something; however he had no time to think about the minor victory.

"Seto, what's wrong?" Mokuba asked walking over to his brother, who'd in the time Tea had taken to answer the door had righted his shirt and was now hunched over and resting his chin on his interlocking fingers.

Kaiba flicked his gaze over toward Mokuba and he closed his eyes for a brief second in contemplation. He had to somehow break the news that their privacy was about to be out the window forever and that there past was going to be used as a source of ridicule, that people's eyes would once again look at them with pity, hatred, or amusement instead of the admiration, fear and awe they worked so hard to cultivate. Mokuba stared at his brother; fear rising to his throat when he realized that there was really only one thing his brother would have trouble telling him.

"You're dying aren't you?!?" Mokuba sobbed, "I told you to take better care of your health…"

"Mokuba it's not that calm down." Kaiba interrupted quickly, however Mokuba was sobbing too hard to hear him.

"You promised you'd always be there, you promised you wouldn't be like dad and grandma and everyone else Seto, why didn't you listen to me?" Mokuba accused, and then he shook his head. He was angrier at himself than his brother, he wrapped his arms around Kaiba's neck, totally blocking out all of his brother's excuses. He didn't want to hear them. He just wanted to hold onto him, to never let him go.

"Mokuba you're not listening to me!" Kaiba growled.

"Its okay big brother, forget I said any of that, it doesn't matter anymore. All that matters is that we cherish the time we have left! I'm never letting you go, I love you so much!" Mokuba cried. Kaiba realized he wasn't going to get an word in edge wise until Mokuba stopped wailing so he patted Mokuba on the back and tried to get him to shush long enough for him to say what he needed to say. When Mokuba had finally calmed down enough to stop screaming at the top of his longs, but well before he stopped crying, Kaiba pulled away from Mokuba and rested his hands on both of his shoulders so he was facing him. Mokuba had by now dropped to his knees and they were eye level, so Kaiba looked directly into Mokuba's eyes.

"Mokuba, I'm not dying." Kaiba stated firmly. Mokuba tears dried up, and he stifled a hiccup again.

"Y-you're not?" He questioned, unsure if his brother was lying to hide the painful truth from him, for the umpteenth time.

"No." Kaiba assured. Mokuba searched his brother's eyes to see if he was lying but he saw more anger there than sadness, worry or tells that he was lying. Mokuba growled in anger.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" He shouted angrily, standing to his full height.

"I did but you just tuned me out!" Kaiba snapped. Mokuba growled and grabbed the pillow and began hitting Kaiba with it.

"Don't scare me like that again you big jerk!" Mokuba shouted still pummeling Kaiba with the pillow. Kaiba blocked the soft blows and then yanked Mokuba down by his shirt so he was sitting down.

"Quiet! I'm trying to discuss something very important with you here, because it really does affect all of our lives." Kaiba snapped. He was in no mood to deal with Mokuba's immature behavior.

"Okay, then, shoot. I seriously doubt anything you say is going to be traumatic to me after that though." Mokuba replied, scooting down on the couch next to his brother, purposely blocking him into the armrest so that if Tea sat down he was in between them. Tea who'd remained silent up until then frowned and sat next to Mokuba. Kaiba closed his eyes again, and rested his chin on his interlocked fingers. While he waited for his brother to start talking, Mokuba began rebuttoning his shirt and smoothing down his hair.

"_The board is threatening to dump all their shares if I don't reveal our past to the world before someone else, namely the Valkners do_." Kaiba admitted at last. Tea's eyes widened and suddenly she remembered the conversation she and Pegasus had. This was certainly important information and she might be able to use her spying to the Kaiba's advantage if she played her cards right. She filed the thought away for later and instead watched the two brothers carefully.

Mokuba at last spoke up after a long pause. "_I'm sorry I missed that meeting big brother, it sounds like it was really hard on you_…."

"_They pretended that a garbage bag was my lunch and dug up some old...fantasy...movie that my mother made and attempted to show it to me. They know all about them. If they know their names they likely also were able to find my old social services file, with information on the terms of our adoption, what orphanage we went to, behavior problems, number of attempts at getting a family member to take us in and things of that private nature_." Kaiba replied, opening his eyes slowly to glare at the wall.

"_Still, Seto, you can't let them get away with this! This is nothing more than a power play_…" Mokuba began.

"_A thinly veiled one_…" Kaiba interjected.

"_Exactly and you can't let them get away with it. Normally, I'd be all for you opening up to the world because I don't think it would be as bad as you always seem to think it would be, but if you start letting them pull this kind of crap now, they're going to keep doing it_!"

"_I'm aware of that. But at this point, short of killing them, I don't really have many options. The Valkners will release that tape and it wouldn't be long afterwards that the press would dig up the information if I don't take up the board's offer. At least by taking the board's offer, I'd be the one wielding the blade that ended my life's work. At least it would be an honorable end! If I don't take the offer, then the Valkners will just do it themselves_."

"_We can't kill them it would be too obvious it took years for people to accept Gozaboro had killed himself_…" Mokuba muttered. "_And you didn't even do it. If we kill them all the signs would point to us and everything would come out anyway_…" Mokuba reasoned.

"_Precisely_." Kaiba replied, his eyes shutting. "_I've worked this from every angle and I really don't know what to do, short of flipping the bird to the board by speaking up to the public myself without accepting the board's offer. Although, what they've proposed is a better solution because at least the Valkner's would be off my back; but I can't let this little power play work. I have to destroy any takeover plans before it even enters their heads as a possibility_."

"_It always seems to be one step forward and two steps back_!" Mokuba growled, tugging lightly at the strands of his own hair. "_It's not even any of their business._"

"_No, it's not._" Kaiba agreed.

"_I'll make you two something to drink and then we'll figure this out together._" Tea smiled sympathetically, placing a hand on Mokuba's shoulder and squeezing it lightly. She wanted so badly to comfort Kaiba as well, but she doubted he'd want that. He seemed to prefer not to show his emotions at all, and when they did manage show despite his steely resolve, Mokuba didn't seem to comment on them or anything. That was probably the way Kaiba preferred. Though he didn't seem to care about comforting people he cared about. She slipped into the kitchen, and quickly pulled her cell phone out from its charger, near the kitchen counter. She quickly sent a text message to Pegasus explaining what was going on and demanding he help her fix things for the Kaiba brothers; lest she blow their cover and tell Kaiba what was going on. She no longer cared if that meant she'd be kicked to the curb as well, Kaiba deserved happiness, even if it wasn't with her. Afterwards she grabbed three cans of beer out of the fridge. She inwardly thanked Joey for making Mai swear off the stuff which meant she wouldn't miss them until he'd left giving her ample to time to replace them. She shut the door with her foot and walked back into the living room.

**

* * *

**

Elsewhere, Pegasus drummed his fingers against thighs impatiently as he leaned back in his chair in his office. He was waiting for his favorite funny bunny video to appear on the television screen in front of him but Croquet seemed to be incapable of setting up the VCR. He kept muttering on and on under his breath about Pegasus just getting a DVD player. Pegasus rolled his eye; the classic (and highly underrated) funny bunny movie was only available on video tape. Sure he could always convert it to DVD, but then where would the funny bunny decals go? The VHS was covered in them and was a bright cheery yellow color; it would lose all collectors value if it was merely a soulless DVD. Still Pegasus was beginning to wonder if it was really necessary to set the time on the VCR, but he quickly shrugged that thought off. He couldn't have the annoying blinking light distracting him from such a cinema masterpiece. Suddenly the William Tell Overture rang throughout the room. Croquet raised an eyebrow and Pegasus looked around the room confused. Croquet realizing it wasn't his phone, and knowing full well Pegasus's ring tone was the funny bunny theme song, quickly locked the door and pulled out his revolver.

"I demand to know whose there?" Pegasus growled standing up from his seat. Croquet slinked around the room, checking behind a large potted plant, and the closet. Not seeing anyone, he checked his own phone, wanting to hit himself for not realizing his son might've changed the ring tone because he thought it was funny. Pegasus pulled out his own phone ready to fire whoever it was that had changed his ring tone. He noticed a large white envelope had flown across his screen.

"What is this?" Pegasus asked, showing the phone to Croquet.

"I think it's a text message sir." Croquet responded. Pegasus rolled his eye again.

"Don't be ridiculous, I don't think that phone is even capable of text messaging. Do you honestly think I sit around here text messaging all day? What do you take me for, an overgrown child?" Pegasus snorted. Croquet chose not to answer that question. Instead he opened the message and handed it to Pegasus, he then proceeded to try and decipher the French instructions for setting the time on the VCR.

"A message from Tea Gardner?" Pegasus wondered aloud, opening it up. His eye widened and he quickly threw on his suit jacket. "Croquet, have someone else set that up for now, I'll watch it when we get back. First I have some urgent business to take care of…oh and have someone record the new episode of the new funny bunny adventures. Something tells me it's going to be a good one." Pegasus ordered, adjusting his suit jacket. Croquet nodded and after a quick call to make sure the VCR was set up; Croquet pulled on his own suit jacket and adjusted his tie. He opened the door for Pegasus and they proceeded to exit the building and get into an always waiting limousine.

**

* * *

**

"…And that's the cliff notes' version of my life's story." Kaiba finished, watching Tea's every move carefully, studying her reaction. "I thought you should know considering that its going to come out anyway and I don't want you to be blindsided by the media, or made to look like an uncaring gold digger."

"Kaiba, Mokuba…" Tea swallowed the lump rising in his throat and looked at both Kaiba brothers. Although it hadn't been his intention Kaiba had successfully made her feel like the worst kind of scum. She was tearing an invisible hole in the only relationship that had thus far not caused him irreparable harm. However that was a battle for another day, what sent off the most alarms was when he told her how his father died. He seemed to think that if he had gotten in the deep end of the pool like his father had asked, his father wouldn't have seen the little girl about to get by a car and thus would not have died. He also thought that his father had acted consciously instead of instinctively, choosing the small girl over his own family.

"Kaiba, you do know that your father loved you right? That little girl just needed his help." Tea said, fighting the urge to place a hand on his shoulder. Kaiba snorted.

"Mokuba needed him too." He retorted. Tea fell silent, suddenly feeling incredibly uncomfortable. She was soon saved by a tap on the door; she opened it and felt a rush of disappointment when she saw Joey.

"Is Mai around?" He asked sheepishly. Tea pointed up the stairs and Joey nodded quickly before running off to apologize to Mai, jewelry and flowers in tow. Kaiba cast a disapproving look at Joey and snorted.

"Yeah that'll end well." Kaiba thought aloud. Joey spun around on his heel and glared at Kaiba.

"What was that rich boy?" He growled, marching up to Kaiba. Mokuba quickly shot in between them.

"He didn't say anything Joey, just go…."

"What I was trying to point out is that your relationship with Valentine should be over. She clearly doesn't care about you or she wouldn't have cheated on you." Kaiba spat out. "So why don't you just tuck your tail on your legs and run along because it's not going to work."

"I'm sure she had her reasons…" Tea exclaimed. Kaiba threw her a withering glare and then turned his attention back to Joey.

"If you can't trust someone then they aren't worth making a family with."

"Well sometimes people just do stupid things and don't really want mean to betray your trust…" Mokuba interjected. Joey bit his lip and shot Tea a death glare. Kaiba arched an eyebrow, suddenly feeling as though he was missing out on something important.

"I'll take my chances." Joey growled, turning his attention to marching up the stairs to find his fiancé.

"You know what run back to her with your tail tucked between your legs like the pathetic dog that you are, go ahead and beg for scraps of affection. Who knows maybe Taylor will throw you a few bones? Maybe he'll take you out to beg for attention with him when this whole thing implodes in your face. Just don't say I didn't warn you." Kaiba smirked. Joey wheeled around on his heel and was about to tell Kaiba everything just to give him a taste of his own medicine when he saw the tears Tea was fighting back, some escaping her grasp and the pained, guilt ridden look on Mokuba's face. Joey glared at Kaiba and tried to turn around and walk up the stairs but he found that no matter how hard he tried he couldn't. He turned around after a moment more of internal debate and walked up to Kaiba. Mokuba instantly moved in between the two of them. Joey threw his hands in the air to show he didn't plan on hitting him, no matter how badly he wanted to now.

"You know what Kaiba I'm not going to argue with you, because your right cheating on someone is a terrible thing to do. But sometimes you have to forgive people, because sometimes they do things they would never to do to you if they were in the right state of mind. You've done some pretty terrible things to your own family!"

"My family is none of your concern. Besides you shouldn't trust anyone, and if you do once they've lost your trust it should be forever. Otherwise you deserve what happens to you. Listen Wheeler, I'm going to teach you an important lesson here because you're important to someone who's important to me and it's in my best interests to keep that person happy and sane. Most people are scum. They'll lie, cheat, and steal and do whatever it takes to get what they want. They only reason most people make friends is because it's more advantageous to be friends with that person than it is to not be, and as soon as they can't get anymore benefit from you they'll betray you or toss you aside for even the tiniest of perks. Either that or they're too weak to stand on their own two feet, take you for example."

"Oh really is Mokuba just nice to you because it's advantageous then? What about Tea?" Joey replied. Kaiba rolled his eyes.

"Obviously, the rest are just people whose brain has some kind of strange short circuit in their hard wiring or something stops their brain from developing into what the rest of society has. It seems to make them honestly incapable of doing such horrible things to others. They are of very small minority and Mai Valentine is not among them. I'm not among them nor are you, so save me the bullshit and learn to be a man."

"Who the hell do you think you are? You don't know anything about me!" Joey growled.

"I know that you used to bully Yugi Moto until he protected you from Ushio, and only started became really close friends with him shortly after you started wearing sneakers that were way above something you could afford. And don't try to tell me that Yugi didn't slip him some drugs or find some other way to mess with his head because I know a so called penalty game when I see one. I might not have realized it back when it happened but you know what they say about hindsight." Kaiba smirked. Joey growled and lunged at Kaiba but Mokuba kneed him unexpectedly in the gut and twisted his arm around his back before Joey realized what was happening.

"If you thought I was going to stand here and let you try to harm my brother you're sadly mistaken." Mokuba growled. Joey easily ripped his arm from Mokuba's grip and was about to lunge again before Tea stepped in between them.

"Joey knock it off." Mai's voice rang from the stairway. Joey looked toward Mai and fell silent, letting his fist fall to his side. "We need to talk."

"That's what I came here to do, but first I have some business I need to handle." Joey replied.

"Joey if you care about me at all you'll drop it and come with me." Mai said, reaching out her hand to Joey. Joey glared at Kaiba before crossing his arms over his chest and heading towards Mai.

"You know what Kaiba, I didn't used to be okay with it but I'm actually glad that Tea is dating you now. Maybe she can teach you some manners." Joey snapped over his shoulder before walking off with Mai. A look of confusion once again marred Kaiba's face and Tea bit her lower lip hoping that Kaiba didn't decipher what Joey meant and the real reason Tea and Mokuba were defending Mai. She really couldn't bring herself to yell at him though, though she yearned too and was incredibly angry at him about his comments about Yugi. Not too long ago she probably would've decked him, but she no longer felt it was her place to yell at him about trusting people. In fact, she was the last person who had the right to do so and it killed her inside to admit that. She was angry at herself for letting things get so out of control that it was beginning to tear holes in her friend's relationships as well.

"Anyway Seto what are you going to do about your board of directors." Tea bit out after a long, agonizing silence. Kaiba shifted in his seat uncomfortably assuming that Tea's anger was directed at him

"I'm sure Yugi Moto is one of those people whose brain isn't wired right. You and Mokuba aren't quite right either." Kaiba muttered.

"Excuse me?" Tea snapped angrily.

"You and Mokuba are in the same boat….You strike me as that small minority of people who really aren't just friends with someone because of what they can do for you or some other kind of perceived advantage. It's incredibly stupid sentiment, for the record." Kaiba explained. Tea realized three things in that moment. One of those things being that this was as close to apology for talking trash about Yugi, her closest friend, that she was ever going to get. She also realized that Kaiba didn't suspect a thing and probably not because of how clever she and Mokuba had been but because he trusted them both completely and so the thought that there was something going on between wouldn't cross his mind until he was smacked across the face with it. But most disturbingly of all, Seto Kaiba was now probably in love with her though she doubted she could get him to admit in words.

"Seto…I…" Tea began, racking her brain for the right words. A knock at the door saved her from having to come up with a reply. Mokuba got up to answer, no longer wanting to be in the room. His brother didn't just like Tea or just have love for her. No, he was in love with her. They waited too long to tell him and now he and Tea could never be without hurting his brother. This wasn't no longer some crush or infatuation his brother had, after all. He'd seen it and his eyes. He'd felt a huge rush of shame and guilt when he'd looked into his brother's eyes, but he also felt a strange rush of jealousy, euphoria and hatred for him. It was a confusing mess of emotions and he was beginning to feel himself die a little more inside. But he couldn't bring himself to leave Tea despite the fact that he desperately wished he could just dump her. He knew in his heart that what he was doing was incredibly unfair to his brother and yet, what his brother had done to him was unfair as well. If his brother hadn't started dating her, and his brother knew full well he had a crush on her for years, then none of this would've happened. Mokuba was torn between hating his brother and hating himself. He opened the door without even checking to see who it was, absorbed in thought.

"Ah, little Mokuba is your brother here?" Pegasus asked. Mokuba's eyes widened in shock and then narrowed in anger.

"What are you doing here?" He hissed.

"Now, now is that anyway to talk to your dear old friend?" Pegasus grinned. Mokuba stood firmly blocking the door. "Fine then, have it your way. I hope you enjoy seeing your brother embarrass himself on national television…" Pegasus smirked as he turned around as though to walk away.

"What are you talking about?" Mokuba questioned, a sinking suspicion rising in his gut.

"Such deplorable manners….Well a little birdie told me there's an embarrassing tape of your brother and I thought I'd offer my services. Now are you going to let me in or not?" Pegasus retorted.

"What did you have in mind?" Mokuba asked. A huge grin spread across Pegasus's face that Mokuba decided instantly he didn't like.

"Ah, ah, little Mokuba….you must have patience. Tell me where your brother is and only then will I inform you." Pegasus chided, adopting a tone as though Mokuba was five years old. Mokuba sighed and opened the door further, then stepped back to let Pegasus inside. Pegasus glided into the room, followed by Croquet. Mokuba glared at their backs before slamming the door and showing them the way back to the living room. Kaiba stood up immediately.

"What are you doing here?" Kaiba growled, clenching his fists at his side. Kaiba quickly decided that if one more person tried to blackmail him that day, they were going to lose their life. He didn't care if it cost him his own life. A life that he couldn't be in control of wasn't worth living anyway in his opinion.

"Me…? I'm making you an offer that you'd be a fool to refuse." Pegasus grinned.

* * *

Happy New Year Everyone. Sorry This Chapter was so incredibly late in coming. To make it up to you I've drawn a picture that you can see on my profile of what the kiss between Kaiba and Tea looks like. I hope you like it and Happy New Year.


	17. Bittersweet

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh

_Italics=Japanese_

Croquet had never been the betting kind of man. Sure he'd hit a casino ever now and again with 20 bucks worth of quarters jangling in his pocket just to see what he could do. But, he'd never risked much and never pushed his luck. No, he was mostly a plain guy who much preferred to sit at home and read a good book while his small cat, fluffy, curled up in his lap. In fact, he much preferred the simple things to the garish over the top lifestyle his boss, Pegasus, seemed to enjoy. Pegasus was his polar opposite really. He'd sip on wine all day. Croquet was more of a beer guy. Pegasus enjoyed pressed and crisp red suits, island castles, and gold and finery as far the eye could see. Croquet preferred his suits to be gray, his homes to be small and his walls were painted a bland white color. But their was one thing that had linked Pegasus and him together, that would ensure they had a bond long after Croquet would be forced to retire. And that was they both often reminisced and pined over their dead wives. Love was no longer in the cards for either of them, and they had spent many a night just enjoying the breaking of the solitude together. Yes, during those many nights Pegasus had become someone Croquet had admired deeply, despite his completely comical lack of fashion sense and foppish tendencies. Which is why he was so angry at the smug look on Seto Kaiba's face as held out a small thumb drive in Pegasus's face pinched tightly between his index finger and thumb.

Pegasus's plan had been so simple but it had gone so horribly wrong.

Flashback-moments ago

"What are you doing here?" Kaiba growled.

"Me…? I'm making you an offer that you'd be a fool to refuse," Pegasus grinned.

"What on Earth are you talking about? How did you know I was here?" Kaiba snapped, "Answer me!"

Pegasus pouted and ran a hand through his long silver hair in faux distress. "Now, now is that anyway to talk to a dear old friend? Here, I am paying you visit and I don't even get so much as a hello."

"You and I were never friends," Kaiba hissed. Pegasus eye snapped open and he grinned obviously up to something.

"Oh, come now Kaiba boy don't be so hasty to throw away our friendship. After all, I am helping you out, as I said before this is an offer you'd be a fool to refuse," Pegasus smirked.

"Spill it and get out," Kaiba said, closing his eyes to restrain himself from knocking Pegasus out for once again playing his stupid mind games and then opening them again lest he appear weak.

"Well now, I happen to have a video here that is far more embarrassing to you, your company, and your reputation in your family than any stupid little orphan video," Pegasus smirked. "And as your dear friend, I figure it's only right to show it you. Of course, I am a businessman. And contrary to popular belief I haven't simply abandoned my company. Therefore, in exchange for this video I have a few demands. First you will sell me exactly 10% of your company for one fifth of the market value, stripping you of majority control and guaranteeing me much better prices for you pathetic products. Two, you speed up production of those modifications to Cecilia's programming as you said you would ages ago. I've already filled out the necessary paperwork and I demand her back by next week!"

"And if I don't comply? Because you're insane if you think your getting slimy hands on my company," Kaiba replied, rolling his eyes.

"I show the world this!" Pegasus replied, taking out a small laptop computer from the suitcase Croquet was holding. Tea's eyes widened in horror, as did Mokuba's when they saw their kiss from Pegasus's ball play on the screen in loop. "I think it would make for a great scandal myself, the world's most perfect brothers, sleeping with the same woman. Think of the scandal, the betrayal! A sex scandal of this proportion would certainly ruin the family friendly face of your company." Pegasus grinned. Kaiba stared blankly at the screen for a few moments, his face betraying no sign of emotion. He didn't look angry, or hurt, betrayed, skeptical, or anything. It was as though he was an impenetrable stone wall. And then the corners of his mouth did something not a single person in the room expected them to do, they twitched upwards and Kaiba laughed as though he'd just heard the funniest joke in the whole world or had concocted some evil plan to take over the world.

"Checkmate," Kaiba smirked, crossing his arms over his chest his eyes a light like whenever he'd one upped Yugi in a duel. It was definitely not the reaction anyone in the room had expected.

"You really are crazy..." Pegasus said, eye widening in surprise.

"Crazy like a fox!" Kaiba replied, "First if you expect some old, boring video from before Tea and I were dating to send me to my knees, you can forget it. Tea and Mokuba are old news, they aren't together anymore and I know full well they wouldn't continue a secret relationship behind my back. Second, you are right you did fill out all of the paper work I asked you to, which is why I now own Cecilia's image so long as I use this program." Kaiba smirked, reaching into his pocket. "Which means if you don't want Kaiba Corp expanding into the adult toy and game industry then I suggest you meet me my demands." Kaiba laughed pulling out a thumb drive and spinning it around a little dramatically around his index finger for a moment before stopping it, pinching it between his index finger and thumb and extending his arm so that Pegasus could see it clearly. "And guess who would be the star."

Silence engulfed the room as Kaiba's words sunk in, on everyone in the room. Croquet glanced at his employers shocked, angry and terrified face and then towards Seto Kaiba's smug one. He knew then he needed to do something.

End Flashback  
_

Tea bit her lower lip, even faced with such evidence, Seto Kaiba still trusted his little brother and her. It wasn't right. Mokuba, swallowed the lump rising in his throat. He had always known that his brother had an enormous amount of faith in him, but he hadn't known that even faced with such undeniable proof that he'd been a terrible brother, his brother would still give him the benefit of the doubt. Croquet glanced around the room, and began secretly shutting all of the curtains. He had to do something. Pegasus glared hatefully at Kaiba.

"I did no such..." Pegasus began, trying desperately to keep his anger and sadness and fear out of his voice.

"The experimentation permission form gives me full royalty-free rights to use any and all images used in the experiment, including Cecilia's, the way I see fit including developing future technology using it's image. I've normally never used such a thing for people's personal images as an ethical rule, but for you I'm more than willing to make an exception, pal." Kaiba replied, cutting Pegasus off with an amused look on his face. Croquet, upon seeing all of the curtains were closed charged Kaiba. He couldn't use the data if he didn't have it. Kaiba glanced to the side boredly, stuck the thumb drive back in his coat pocket and effortlessly dodged Croquet's attempt to tackle him. Croquet growled and pulled out his side arm but before he could even pull back the hammer Kaiba had swiftly pushed the gun towards the wall, elbowed him in the gut, disarmed him, and kicked him to the ground. Croquet growled and stood up, knowing he had another pistol but before he could pull it out, Kaiba had readied the gun and aimed it at point blank range in his face. Croquet stared up the barrel at Kaiba in fear as he saw in no uncertain terms that Kaiba was indifferent about killing him. He was actually surprised that he hadn't killed him actually since his lawyers could easily call it self defense. It would be pretty open and shut actually.

"You've got to be kidding," Kaiba laughed, hitting Croquet in the side of the head with the pistol effectively knocking him out and then emptying it of it's bullets. He pulled out Croquet's second one and did the same and then handed both of them over to Mokuba, who took them numbly. "Now then, let's get down to business shall we?" Kaiba asked. Pegasus growled, unable to control himself. He'd used the millennium eye on the Kaiba brothers when Kaiba really was but a boy to get Cecilia back and he was more than willing to harm him again in order to protect her honor. There really wasn't much that could convince him to attack someone with his bare hands, he usually banished the thought as quickly as they came, but in this case he'd obviously have to make an exception. The only thing that was hard was figuring out when. He couldn't just lunge at him like Croquet had, Kaiba actually was quite a lethal martial artist.

"Now, now, Kaiba boy is this anyway to behave? Even if that video wasn't enough to convince you, we both know I know more than enough about you to take you down should you ever choose to test the sales of your little game. Besides, adult toys are not the kind of business a man who owns an children's amusement park and is opening a school would want to get into, so why don't we quit the little games and you hand over Cecilia, hmm?" Pegasus said, sauntering over toward Kaiba with a forced amused look on his face. Kaiba's grinned widened, and Pegasus's fake smile fell as he stood a mere inches away from Kaiba. Kaiba glared at Pegasus, unflinching and unmoved.

"We both know that you'd do anything to keep Cecilia's image pure, whereas with me, you're not threatening me with anything I'm not already dealing with." Kaiba stated simply.

"If that's how you want it, fine then." Pegasus said crossing his arms over his chest and glancing away from Kaiba. He stole a quick peak at Kaiba's pocket and then quickly lunged for it, managing to get his hand inside of the coat. Kaiba slipped out of the coat and pulled it quickly causing Pegasus to stumble towards him, he wrapped the coat quickly around Pegasus's hand like a handcuff so that it was caught and he was unable to move and then kicked Pegasus in the side of the head, knocking him towards the wall. He quickly untwisted the coat so that Pegasus's hand was no longer in the pocket, and then with a spinning back kick pushed him against the wall as Pegasus tried to move. Pegasus struggled to regain his breath as Kaiba calmly put the coat back on, and then grabbed Pegasus by his throat and slammed him into the wall, pinning him against it. Kaiba glanced at Mokuba and nodded his head toward the door, Mokuba nodded and then he quickly tossed the bullet-less handguns on the couch before he went outside, grabbed his brother's duralumin briefcase from outside the parked limo calmly waiting for them and then walked back inside just as Croquet was beginning to stir. Kaiba tossed the thumb drive to Mokuba with his free hand, who shut it inside the briefcase. Croquet smirked and quickly dove for his handgun Mokuba had tossed on the couch, and Mokuba glanced at him in amusement.

"Alright, brat hand it over." Croquet snarled, Kaiba glanced over, relaxing his grip on Pegasus just enough so the man didn't choke to death before he was finished with him. Pegaus inhaled sharply, and panted, desperately filling his lungs with air. Mokuba walked over toward Croquet, who quickly fired the gun, only to find it wasn't loaded.

"It doesn't have bullets, idiot." Mokuba yelled, knocking Croquet to the floor by hitting him with the duralumin briefcase. Mokuba squatted down to the ground and grinned at Croquet. "But I'm a nice guy, if you want to see it, I'd be more than happy to show it to you," Mokuba said, opening the briefcase. Croquet quickly dove for the briefcase just as Mokuba assumed he would. Mokuba kicked his hand away, and trapped Croquet's head inside the case, the case putting pressure on the older man's neck. Mokuba stepped on the lid and trapped him there, tentatively putting a little bit of pressure on it. Croquet howled in pain and began to cry.

"Master, I'm sorry! I failed you! Please help me!" Croquet pleaded, tears welling in his eyes. Mokuba eased up on the pressure and then replaced it.

"You know, this duralumin case is stronger than most metals, I could snap your neck with it. Heh, and it's slick surface would easily allow me to wash the blood right off. I wouldn't move around so much, if I were you." Mokuba smirked. Kaiba smiled in pride and then turned his attention back to Pegasus, the smile falling off his face. He replaced the pressure and cut off Pegasus air supply once again, as he had been doing every time he felt the slightest bit of resistance.

"Now then, Pegasus, my friend.." Kaiba mocked, the smirk on his face angry and sinister, "You can either do as I say, or I can kill you. You both attacked me within my girlfriends house, and I have these two witnesses to prove it. Don't think I can't just kill you and plead self defense. Oh, but don't worry the Crawford name will live on. Kaiba Corps love simulators sure have a nice ring to it, and Cecilia would make a particularly sexy slut. But I must thank you for giving me the idea, Pegasus. You're the one that first connected the words blow up doll and Cecilia together." Kaiba said his tone icy cold.

Flashback  
_

"Your story checks out, and I'll begin working on Cecilia as soon as I get the opportunity. You want to be able to sleep with her, right?" Kaiba asked, disgustedly. Pegasus glared at Kaiba.

"I'd never cheapen Cecilia's memory by making her a glorified blowup doll. All I want is to be able to dance with her, even if you're only able to make that happen one time."

"Whatever." Kaiba rolled his eyes, "Now vacate these premises or I'll have security escort you out."

end flashback  
_

"I'm too young to die!" Croquet whimpered.

"Shut up!" Mokuba yelled, pushing down slightly on the lid of the suitcase and then releasing it quickly, sending a quick wave of pain through Croquet, who screamed.

"_That's enough._" Tea whispered.

"You think I care about my life? You can go ahead and kill me if you like but I'll never hand over Cecilia to the likes of you!" Pegasus shouted angrily, Kaiba cut him off by lifting him off the ground and choking him further.

"_Please stop, that's enough_." Tea repeated again softly, tears brimming her eyes.

"If you don't care about your own life, maybe you'll care about your friend's...we all know he is way too ineffectual of a bodyguard for him to serve any other purpose than to keep you company." Kaiba hissed, releasing the pressure on Pegasus slightly. Pegasus remained silent, fixing Kaiba with a stony glare.

"You wouldn't dare." He hissed. Kaiba turned towards Mokuba.

"Do it." Kaiba replied. Mokuba gave his brother a glare and the two had a silent conversation for a moment, before Mokuba sighed sadly and began putting pressure on Croquet's neck slowly, causing the main to scream in pain.

"_STOP! That's enough! Please! Stop!"_Tea screamed at the top her lungs, running towards Kaiba and wrapping her arms around his waist from behind. Mokuba stopped what he was doing and turned toward his brother, hope filling his eyes. He didn't like killing people, but would do it to protect his family. Mokuba knew that his brother wasn't ready yet for the truth of their past to come out, and he'd been suicidal all the way back as far as duelist kingdom. Things had gotten a lot better since then, and he hadn't threatened to throw himself off a building even once since then. But he didn't know if the truth of his past, combined with the truth of his and Tea's relationship coming out simultaneously would be too much for him to handle. If killing Croquet could somehow prevent that, he would do so. After all suicide threats didn't have an expiration date. That didn't mean he liked the idea though, no matter how tough he was acting.

"_Please make it stop. This is too much. He loves his family too."_ Tea pleaded, sobbing. Pegasus's eye widened in surprise. He'd never thought he'd see the day when Tea Gardner would come to his defense.

"_This is for family, Tea. If you're uncomfortable than don't watch_."

"_Would your mother really approve of this? Or you father? They both sacrificed their lives for the sake of others. Your father used his martial arts to disable attackers he could have killed, but he never did._"

"_They attacked me first. Nobody can prove it wasn't self defense. I'm sick and tired of them interfering with my life. I'm sick of him trying to destroy me, to keep me from living in peace with my brother. Just because Yugi can forgive what this scum did to his grandfather at Duelist Kingdom doesn't mean I can forgive him for what he did to my brother and to me. Nothing would make me happier than killing him, if he refuses to cooperate. I'm tired of these little games. I'm tired of people trying to take everything from me! And now this scum wants to threaten me with my mother and my father? Give me one good reason, I shouldn't take this golden opportunity to kill him right now! One?"_ Kaiba shouted, glaring at Pegasus. Pegasus looked over at Croquet, seeing him once again trapped in Kaiba's duralumin case brought back memories of Duelist Kingdom along with Kaiba's bloodthirsty face.

"_Alright, if you leave Cecilia out of this, I'll cooperate._" Pegasus whispered. The truth was, as much as he hated to admit it, Seto Kaiba was right he'd been heavily involved in the attack of his personal life at various times, he should have suspected eventually he'd fight fire with fire.

"_It's what I want too, Seto._" Mokuba whispered. Kaiba turned and faced Mokuba and Tea and then closed his eyes and growled. Allowing Pegasus to drop back to the floor. Pegasus gasped for air and coughed as Kaiba leaned against the wall where Pegasus had once been, obviously trying to calm himself down. There had been way too many people blackmailing him lately and he had been pushed to his limit. Pegasus briefly wondered if he'd simply gotten the bad luck in the draw, Kaiba would've probably tried to kill the next person to try to blackmail him regardless if it had been him or not. He could have kicked himself for not realizing that and it proved to be a near fatal mistake.

"So what's the deal?" Pegasus coughed after he'd regained his breath.

"You threaten to revoke the creative license Schroeder has on duel monster's merchandise and to buy out his company and sell the shares to me if he doesn't agree to my demands, including a gag order that includes not revealing anything he knows even in death. 60% of all his sales is of Duel Monsters merchandise and he can't afford to lose the right to sell them, he'll comply. Even if it means that my company remains his competition. You also agree to dump your shares in Jump toys. To my knowledge you own 20% of that company, correct?"

"Yes, I do." Pegasus nodded.

"Good, Ohhira is the founder and CEO of jump toys and owns the most shares of Kaiba Corp out of any of the other board members, but even he can't afford to sell Kaiba Corp shares at a depreciated price and then turn around buy up all those shares. Madison would surely jump on the opportunity to seize control of Jump and Ohhira worked too hard to build that company up to see it taken away just for an opportunity to gain some kind of bargaining control over my actions." Kaiba stated, pacing b ack and forth. Mokuba let Croquet out of the suitcase and quickly snapped it shut then slung it over shoulder.

"I can contact Alister if you want, too. He owes you one big time, and I think its time he paid up on his debt." Mokuba added. "If you get him involved, he can do the same thing to the rest of the board and tighten the noose around Ohhira. Ohhira is the biggest threat because he owns more shares than I do, and without him on their side the rest of the board has nothing." Mokuba grinned. Kaiba frowned, not really wanting to involve Alister. He hadn't talked to the man since the whole Orichalcos mess even though Alister had attempted to contact him several times. Apparently, all of the horsemen were going around trying to atone for their actions and using their inheritance of Paradis the most powerful company in the entire world, to do so. But Kaiba had refused. Alister had put him and his brother into far too much danger. And while Kaiba couldn't bring himself to hate the man nor did he want any kind of revenge, he couldn't bring himself to want to talk to him either.

"It was just a thought." Mokuba frowned, watching Croquet carefully as he dusted himself off and stood near Pegasus in a protective stance.

"No, it's a good idea. Do it." Kaiba replied finally, his eyes narrowed angrily. Mokuba nodded his head. He knew his brother hated asking for help, even when he was calling in a favor that someone owed him.

"All right, I'll call him as soon as we get back to the mansion. He's only a couple hours away, anyway. He's in Pennsylvania right now. And at least, without our board supporting them, the Valkners will have to go back to offering to buy those shares from you again. But will you take that offer? I mean, what can we do about them. The only thing we have that they want is majority control of their sisters company." Mokuba pointed out.

"That's not entirely true." Pegasus interrupted. Kaiba and Mokuba both turned towards Pegasus.

"Alister, he owns a portion of every company in the entire world. Including the Valkner brothers companies, surely a Valkner coup would send the family into a tailspin."

"Yeah, but it's such a small amount." Mokuba sighed. "Do you really think that it will work?" He asked.

"Do you even know about what V Inc secretly manufacturers?" Pegasus asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"V Inc is in the shipping business." Kaiba stated off hand.

"Yes, that is its public front, but surely you did some investigation on the matter?" Pegasus grinned, loving the feeling of knowing something important that Kaiba did not. Kaiba frowned, he'd heard some rumors about them having ties with the Italian mafia before, but he hadn't found any hard evidence.

"So the rumors about them working with the Mafia are true then? What does that have do with anything. I severed my own connections a long time ago." Kaiba growled.

"No, not that." Pegasus grinned, walking over to Tea's coffee table and picking up a book from it. "Laugh, Play, Love? Sounds like an interesting title, what is about?" He asked Tea. Tea frowned and crossed her arms over her chest.

"It's about a woman whose husband dies in a war zone, and how she learned to get her life back together and learned to laugh, play, and eventually love again through the power of friendship." Tea answered. Kaiba scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, how simply fascinating!" Pegasus replied, flipping the book open to the first page and reading it.

"Tch, drivel." Kaiba commented, narrowing his eyes as Pegasus continued to pretend to read the short novel decorated in sunflowers and small pieces of candy. "I've had enough of your games Pegasus, either give me the information that you have or stop wasting my time and leave and I'll find it out myself."

Pegasus turned towards Kaiba, setting the book on the table. "Come now, Kaiba don't be that way. And after I've generously agreed to help you," he replied, clasping his hands together. "Now then, as you may recall Alister's brother was killed during an air raid ordered by Dartz, though he masqueraded rather convincingly as your father."

"Step father." Kaiba corrected, folding his arms across his chest.

"Well, he was more of a father to you than your biological one, if I recall correctly he perished a little before your eighth birthday. How much of him could you possibly remember? Besides, we all know that your oh so loving personality is almost a mirror of Gozaboro, and he was the last person to legally be your guardian, was he not?" Pegasus grinned.

"I am nothing like him!" Kaiba hissed, clenching his fists.

"You hate other human beings in general, you only care about furthering the Kaiba name, you are the head of Kaiba corporation, you don't trust anyone, you believe friendship is for the weak, you like showing off your wealth and don't try to deny it Kaiba boy because I saw you fly in on your little jet pack just to announce the start of the Kaiba Corp Grand Prix. And lets not forget your little duel on top of that blimp that certainly cost a fortune and served no other purpose than to make your seem better than everyone else. You are cruel and do not have any sympathy for those around you. You only give to charity to make yourself look good, and then only to children's charities..." Pegasus replied, listing off all the traits that Kaiba shared with his step father whether he liked it or not. Kaiba swallowed the insult that rose to his throat, shouting would only prove Pegasus's point.

"My step father may have had a few good ideas that I have adopted, but even horse shit has it's uses." Kaiba growled, "it doesn't mean that I am anything like him!"

"Didn't you try to destroy your brother at Death-T the same way you almost killed Yugi's grandfather? The experience of death, correct?" Pegaus asked. "Gozaboro allowed his two older brothers and his younger sister to die, too. When they were in a swimming competition for control of Kaiba Corp when they were young and got pulled into rip tide, they begged their brother to help them and get a life guard. They agreed to let him inherit the company, but he told them that they knew the dangers of the game before they started, and proceeded to finish the racing competition their insane father put them in. I heard all about it from my father because the youngest, the little girl, was my peer at only 7 years old." Pegasus finished. (1)

Mokuba frowned, and clenched his fists. "That's not my brother anymore! It never really was him to begin with! He was mentally ill when that happened, but Yugi saved him when he defeated him! He cast out that darkness that was in his heart! My brother isn't like that anymore, he's a good person!" Mokuba protested. Kaiba swallowed and choose to stare at a spot on the wall just past Pegasus's shoulder. He refused to defend his actions during that day, but he also refused to let Pegasus see he had stricken a nerve.

"Get to the point." Kaiba hissed, raising a hand to silence Mokuba. He didn't need to defend himself to Pegasus. He knew he was nothing like Gozaboro, even if there had been a dark period in his life when had been been driven over the edge and HAD acted like him. That was in the past, and while he had done some things he wasn't proud of, there was nothing he could do about it now. It was a waste of time to focus on the past, and he much preferred to carve out his own future. Pegasus sighed, a little irritated that he hadn't been able to goad Mokuba into confessing so that he could use the situation to gain leverage. Kaiba wasn't going to bargain with him if he didn't believe that his brother and girlfriend were carrying on an affair behind his back, and Pegasus didn't want to honestly reveal it to the public. He didn't stand to gain very much from Kaiba's downfall and was genuinely on the other man's side for the most part, if only because of a mix of guilt at the way he had treated him in the past and the undeniable monetary gain he had received from his partnership with the younger man.

"V Inc has also had secret dealings in illegal arms manufacturing, something that Alister has devoted a lot of time to stopping. He owns a much larger portion of V Inc, and a few other companies, than he would typically hold. This way, he can more easily keep track of all their monetary transactions, figure out where money disappears to, and help various governments take down these criminals. He has never revealed where he get his information, so that he can continue to have an in on these things and the criminals aren't sure who is giving out their information. Similar to the way police allow informants to continue to commit petty crimes so that they can catch bigger criminals." Pegasus explained. Kaiba sighed, wondering how hard Alister watched him then. He still owned a few weapons manufacturing plants, and stockpiles of serious arms that he had been unable to destroy because he did not have the proper means to, and the government did not want him to do so.

Instead, he had built dummy warehouses around them, kept them under 24 hour, 365 day surveillance, so that they could never fall into the wrong hands. He also happened to secretly know the launch codes to almost every legal weapon of mass destruction in the world, which he had learned that Gozaboro Kaiba and Noah Kaiba had secretly knew when Gozaboro had planned to hack into the all of the worlds satellites (including defense networks) and digitize the world. He had then planned to destroy all the world cities so that all of Earth existed only in cyberspace, with he as it's supreme ruler. To do that he and Noah and collected the launch codes to almost all of the worlds various tools of destruction. It still gave Kaiba chills how much they were able to get away with, right under his nose, with Kaiba Corp branded machines.

Of course, they had an advantage the rest of the world did not. That allowed them to hack into things even he would not have had access to had they not provided it. They weren't human beings. They were machines, bits and pieces of data. No more than ones and zeros. They didn't have hearts. So needless to say, as soon as he got back to Kaiba Corp he traced how Noah and Gozaboro had hacked into his security systems without his knowledge, had found the original data files, and had discovered their plans along with all of the codes. He'd also discovered some improvements that he had borrowed (the coding of which he named after Noah, since he couldn't properly credit him without looking crazy) for his own future updates to his basic digital holographic software. Since he couldn't tell anyone how he had obtained this information without sounding insane, or inciting a panic about the safety of his digital games, he had remained mum on the issue. After all, he was the only person on the face of the entire planet still alive that knew the codes, and he was a pacifist. He was probably the perfect person, in his own opinion, to have access to that kind of knowledge. It also helped him sleep better at night knowing that he could stop any missile launch from destroying his city or the one Mokuba was in and he did not have to rely on his government to stop these kinds of attacks. He hated relying on others for anything. Which is also why he did not want to contact Alister, even though Alister owed him.

"He can threaten them with information they don't want getting out the same way the Valkners are threating me." Kaiba replied, after some time.

"Great then we have them beat!" Mokuba shouted, holding up a victory sign. "_We did it!_"

"Yes, this is checkmate." Kaiba agreed, folding his arms across his chest. "If this all goes according to plan, I'll begin work on your wife immediately, Pegasus."

"And the rights?" Pegasus asked. Kaiba crossed his arms over his chest, and snorted. Pegasus glared at Kaiba, but Kaiba simply glared back refusing to commit to anything. Pegasus sighed, his beloved's image was safe for now. He would have to leave things the way they were for the time being but he had no intentions of allowing Kaiba to continue to hold on to such an important right.

"I think it's time for you two to leave." Mokuba said finally, bringing his brother and Pegasus's stare down to an end.

"If you want to play it that way, fine then. But you haven't heard the last of this." Pegasus acknowledged, motioning with a tilt of his head for Croquet to follow him. Croquet grabbed his guns and placed them back inside the secret holsters in his jacket and then followed Pegasus out of the door. Mokuba breathed a sigh of relief and picked up Kaiba's briefcase and began heading toward the door. He grabbed his cellphone out of his pocket and began scrolling through the numbers as he twisted the doorknob but paused when he didn't hear anyone following him. He glanced back over his shoulder and saw his brother still leaning against the wall near Tea, eyes staring angrily straight ahead but at nothing in particular.

"_Are you coming home, big brother?" _Mokuba asked, nervously. Kaiba said nothing and then turned his gaze toward Tea.

"Why didn't you tell me about you and Mokuba?" Kaiba hissed. Tea gulped, and her eyes opened wide.

"Seto, I..."

"Why did you defend Pegasus?"

"Well, I..."

"Would his death really have affected you so much? If so, what do you even see in me! What benefits do you gain from being with me Tea? If the things I do bother so you so much?" Kaiba questioned, his tone of voice becoming more angry the more he spoke and thought about the whole situation. Tea backed away, as Kaiba stepped towards her like a lion stalks it's prey. "Are you scared of me?" Kaiba laughed bitterly. "What do you really think of me Tea?" He asked, trapping her against the corner of the wall she had backed into by placing his hands on either side her. "Answer me!" He shouted, pounding his fist against the wall. Tea bit her lower lip. It was obviously time to confess. His behavior before had been all an act to force Pegasus to do what he wanted him to do. She also felt more than a little afraid, she had known he would be angry but he seemed homicidal almost.

"Seto, that's enough. This is all my fault, I told her to keep quiet!" Mokuba said quickly, crossing towards them.

"I'll deal later with you later!" Kaiba shouted back.

"Seto, we need to settle this now... " Mokuba began.

"Why? So you can humiliate me further? You two made me look like a fool!" Kaiba hissed, glaring at Mokuba from the corner of his eyes. Kaiba suddenly felt someone grip his forearm and gently tug him away from Tea.

"That's enough, moneybags." Joey growled tugging him away. "Just go home and cool off."

"I'm not going to hit her, so mind your business." Kaiba snapped, pulling his arm away from Joey and turning towards Tea. "And I'm not leaving until I get some answers."

"They've been dating this whole time behind your back. Heck, according to Mai your little jerk of a brother even violated my best friend!" Joey continued. Kaiba's eyes widened and his arm fell limply to the side. Tea couldn't bear to look into his eyes which had never been so open before. The look of shock and betrayal and deep deep sadness in his eyes was the most expressive she had ever seen his face. It was as though the emotions were far too strong for even him to hold back. She glanced toward her friend angrily, there had been no need to be so blunt.

"Joey!" Tea shouted feeling betrayed even though she knew that the charade had become to much and even started to negatively impact his life.

"You got your answer money bags, now go home and quit threatening my friends." Joey finished folding his arms across his chest. Kaiba however simply clenched his fist and shut his eyes, forcing himself to think about Gozaboro and all the lessons he had went through. His stepfather had warned him that all people were the same. That there was no such thing as brotherly love. That Mokuba was little more than a liability and that when he didn't need him any longer he would betray him. He hadn't wanted to believe him, but he found his once unshakable faith in his brother dissolving with each second that Mokuba wasn't angrily denying the accusation. Kaiba dug his nails into the palm of his hand, trying desperately to think about the physical pain that had allowed him to numb himself from all other forms of pain. He needed to get his emotions under control, there was no way he'd give them the satisfaction of seeing him cry, of beating him. He had no intention of throwing himself off the top of Kaiba Corporation, he refused to lose their little game.

Mokuba had tricked him into thinking that he cared, when in reality Gozaboro had been the only one to care enough to tell him the truth. The man who had made his life a living hell and robbed him of his childhood was the only one who wanted him to be successful, if only because he was willing his company to him and didn't want to die a failure because the company he worked hard to make profitable again imploded when he was forced to retire. Gozaboro may have only cared for purely selfish reasons, but at the end of the day he was still the only one who hadn't lied to him his whole life. It was funny, really.

Kaiba suddenly burst into a bitter laugh, piercing the silence that had filled the room. It definitely wasn't the reaction that everyone had been expecting.

"_Big brother...are you okay?" _Mokuba asked concerned, placing a hand on his shoulder. Kaiba's gaze shot toward him and Mokuba took a step backwards in shock, quickly removing his hand in fear of the hatred that had suddenly consumed him.

"_Heh, you think this stupid little affair of yours bothers me one bit? I suspected something was up all long, you may have taken things further than I ever would have given you credit for but I always knew you would betray me_." Kaiba smirked.

"_Seto, this wasn't about that. I love you so much!_" Mokuba exclaimed. "_I just, I was stupid. I should have made my feelings about Tea clear from the start. This whole thing is my fault and I'm sorry that you got dragged into all this but you have to believe me I never wanted to hurt you. That's why I let this go on as long as it did, I didn't want you find out. I want you to be happy. I love you!_" Mokuba insisted.

"_Love? There is no such thing as love. Do you really think she gives a damn about you? Do you really think I do?_" Kaiba asked, an evil smirk playing across his lips.

"_What are you saying?_" Mokuba asked, his resolve wavering.

"_Until you realize there is no such thing as love, you will never be anything more than a helpless, pathetic loser!_" Kaiba shouted. "_We're all alone in this world! That's what I've tried to teach you from the beginning because even though we all need to use each other to get ahead in this world, most people aren't going to admit it. Are to blind to see it. But no matter how many times I told everyone that I didn't need anyone, you foolishly kept thinking that you were somehow excluded from that. I've felt your weak, loser's presence lurking in my shadow for years, clinging to my coattails so you can stand on my pedestal. And now that you've outlived your usefulness as a human shield it's time you go back into the refuse with the rest of the dreck of this world, where you belong!_"

"_You don't mean that!_" Mokuba cried, tears forming in his eyes.

"_Kaiba, stop! That's enough!_" Tea shouted, tears streaming down her face. _"This is all my fault! I'm the __one to blame!_ _If you're going to hate someone, hate me! I'm the one that took advantage of you both!_"

"_Oh, please Gardener. You don't have the mental capacity to take advantage of an infant so you can steal it's candy. You're just a stupid bimbo I seduced for the sole reason that you were Mokuba's flavor of the week. You're as disposable in this picture as that stupid mutt you call a friend._" Kaiba replied, chuckling darkly and folding his arms across his chest. He was lying of course, he had fallen for Tea completely by accident and would have picked anyone else if he could have. He knew his brother had liked her as small child, he just hadn't known that those feelings had extended beyond anything but a stupid, childish adolescent crush. He'd sooner dig his own grave then to give them the satisfaction of knowing that, though.

"_What are you talking about?_" Mokuba asked, confused. He knew his brother was manipulative but he hadn't started seeing Tea for the sole purpose of hurting him, had he? Mokuba shook his head; the very idea of that was ludicrous.

"_I was testing your loyalty to the company, and to me. To see if you would be smart enough to realize that you'll never be anything without my help. After all you wouldn't even be alive if it weren't for me, you pathetic fool. So I seduced Tea because you like her, and because I knew she was a dumb whore who sleeps with all her male friends for protection. I'd knew she jump at the chance of an upgrade and that she would whore herself out to both of us, if she got the chance to improve of her chances of marrying up._" Kaiba stated simply. Joey growled.

"_That's it Rich boy! You've gone to far this time, you're dead!_" Joey shouted, lunging toward him. Kaiba smirked, expecting Joey's attack the moment the words had left his lips. He easily sidestepped Joey and kicked him in his back, sending him to the ground. Joey quickly jumped back up and attempted to punch Kaiba in the face, but Kaiba stepped to the side and aimed his punch purposefully between Joey's ribs hoping to break one, and feeling a little disappointed when he realized Joey moved in time enough so that he couldn't. Joey's eyes widened as he fell to the ground when the fist connected with his gut, the wind knocked out of him. Kaiba smirked and connected his elbow to the back of Joey's head, effectively knocking him out. Kaiba smirked and placed his foot on the back of Joey's head, pushing his face into the carpet.

"_Heh, see what I mean? He can't even protect his so called friend. Loser." _Kaiba smirked, pushing down with the heel of his boot to push the boy's face slightly further into the plush carpet. Tea gasped and moved towards Joey but Kaiba's deadly glare made her stop in her tracks. _"Heh, after I announced our relationship to you, I knew it was only a matter of time before you showed your true colors. You're not loyal to me at all, but your far to much of a coward to admit it. Even now, caught in your lies you still deny it. You try to spin the whole thing as though you slept with my girlfriend for my sake. You don't care, you were using me as your shield from poverty and bullies as much as I was using you as bait for would be kidnappers. Oh, come now Mokuba save me the tears. Did you really think I cared? My blue eyes white dragon cards got stolen less times than you. Heck, I kept my music play list more secure than I did you, did you really think that was an accident? How cute." _Kaiba grinned. Mokuba bowed his head tears flowing from his eyes. He knew his brother had to be lying, his whole story just didn't add up but his words still hurt him to the core. Shook up what he had believed for so long. Kaiba yawned, purposefully stretching his arms above his head to portray that he was bored. The truth of the matter was, he needed to get out of there fast. Because he couldn't bear to see his brother cry anymore, and he knew if his brother attacked him he would be unable to defend himself because he could never bring himself to lay a finger on his brother even to save his own life. He'd proven that in Noah's virtual world willingly forfeiting his life, his company and all that he had including his own body and the shirt off his back because he wouldn't risk his brother getting hurt if had went through with his attack. And that was only one blow, a hit that many kids took on a regular basis and had fun doing.

"_Well, if you have nothing to say than I guess you've outlived your usefulness. I'll consider this your resignation from Kaiba Corporation. You have 48 hours to remove your belongings from my home before I have them destroyed._" Kaiba said haughtily, peering at Mokuba with one open eye as he yawned feigning complete disinterest. Seeing that his brother thankfully was too upset to talk, he kicked Joey one last time for show and then strutted to the door, glancing at Tea from the corner of his eye to see if she was crying. Satisfied that they both were, and thus he was the winner of their twisted mind game; he opened the door to leave.

"_You're wrong Seto, I'm not resigning anything. And technically speaking I'm still a minor good luck kicking me out and still maintaining your precious, kid friendly image. You could wait the couple of days until my birthday, I suppose. But in Japan, the age of majority is 20. Are you going to turn you back on your only family for the public to see. This is supposed to be a family friendly company._" Mokuba replied. Kaiba paused at the door, and allowed himself a small smile. He had taught Mokuba well, and despite how horrible he currently felt, he couldn't help but be a little proud. He'd taught Mokuba the lessons he needed to be strong, without beating him. Something Gozaboro never could accomplish. He was better than him in every way. After all these years he could finally say he won. The thought wasn't as cathartic as he'd hoped it would be, however. He'd lost his brother in the process, the allure of power and manipulation to much for him to resist. If he ever had children, he'd coddle them. He wouldn't teach them how to manipulate others. He'd give them the same weak upbringing that most idiots considered a proper, loving one. That way they wouldn't push him off in some old folks home and would remain loyal, stupid. Like Tea had manipulated her friends, making them think they couldn't even win a duel without her. Now that he thought about it, that's probably why people lied to their children so often; pretending there was such a thing as love, at least love that was reciprocated. Love was clearly a mental disorder that he himself had somehow developed over the years, tricking him into thinking Mokuba had ever cared about him. Had tricked him into thinking Mokuba had ever done anything more than use him. He hoped it was curable.

"_I'd reconsider that if I were you._" Kaiba replied, giving the best deadly serious voice he could muster. "_The last man who tried to retain his presidency in Kaiba Corp after I told him it was over is dead now._"

"_Yeah, he killed himself. And just like I know you wouldn't have killed him. I know you can't kill me. We're brothers, and I love you. And I'm going to prove that to you, or die trying._" Mokuba answered back, true steely resolve in his voice.

Kaiba closed his eyes. Hadn't Mokuba hurt him enough? How long did he want to continue to manipulate him? Why couldn't he just move to his next mark. Probably because he hadn't found someone else with comparable power yet, he supposed. "_Feh, pathetic._" Kaiba replied closing his eyes and leaving Tea's house, before he finally broke down and cried. Kaiba walked inside his limo, where Roland was waiting inside, sitting next to his limo driver, Jacobson.

"Drive." Kaiba commanded, tossing his briefcase on the seat across from him.

"Where to next, Chairman Kaiba?" Jacobson asked.

"Just drive." Kaiba replied, staring out the window at Tea's house. He could still see the silhouettes of Tea and Mokuba who had hauled Joey to his feet through the window.

"What about Master Mokuba?" Roland asked innocently. Kaiba folded his arms across his chest angrily.

"You have your orders, now move." Kaiba replied, forcing his gaze away from the window as Joey's silhouette rubbed the back of his head and gestured wildly before clutching his sides. He ignored the small part of him that was relieved that Joey seemed to be okay, angry, but okay. He needed to move away from the weakness that had infected his life like a virus ever since his first defeat to Yugi. The limo driver pulled off into the night, deciding to head toward Kaiba's mansion and circle around in a several mile radius until Kaiba noticed and asked to be taken home. Roland sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose knowing his boss better than to say anything. Anyone stupid enough to disturb his boss when he got like that wouldn't have a job for very long.

Back at Tea's house, Joey growled and placed a bunch of ice inside a zip lock bag, placing it on the back of his head. Mai walked into the living room with a small bottle of aspirin and a cup of water. She had watched the whole thing, but hadn't gotten involved because Joey had begged her not to before he went downstairs to break up all the commotion when they heard Pegasus leave. Mai had really wanted to intervene because she felt as though she owed Pegasus big time, after what she did to him when she was in Doma. But for now, that debt would have to remain unpaid. In a way, she supposed he had it coming to him anyway, considering what he did to Yugi's grandfather and the Kaiba brothers.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital Joey?" Tea asked, biting her lower lip. Joey shook his head, swallowing the aspiring Mai had given him.

"Nah, I'm fine. I've gotten beat up much worse than this before. This is nothing." Joey grinned, winking at her and giving her thumbs up. Tea shook her head, and folded her arms across chest. Only Joey could talk about something like that so flippantly. She knew it still bothered him constantly but he'd told her a long time ago that if he let them attack his spirit too, he'd be one of Hirtuani's "mindless worker monkeys." She sat down on the sofa and buried her head in her hands.

"Everything is such as mess, this is all my fault." Tea sniffed. Mokuba sat next to her.

"No, this is my fault Tea. I should never have agreed to all of this." Mokuba insisted. "He's my brother, it was my job to protect him. I'm going to go make this right!" Mokuba shouted, jumping up from the couch.

"Hun, you two have got to give him a chance to cool off and process this. You saw the way he lashed out just now, he said some pretty terrible things. He's falling back to his old habits again, it's like the Kaiba I remember dueling during the all Japan finals when he was just making a name for himself. When he was still ruthless. He wiped the floor with me, and was incredibly cruel. He had this crazy look in his eyes, it was really annoying." Mai replied. "But he changed a lot, I could see that during Doma. The person Alister was attacking wasn't the same jerk that I had dueled before. He was like a completely different person. I remember it making me really angry. How come he could lose and still get treated with respect, when I was made into a joke? How come he could be a complete and total raging homicidal maniac, who tried to kill you and you could still find the time to contact him but not me? How could he lose like that, and go through what he went through, and still be standing? Still be so arrogant, smart, powerful and strong, when after I was defeated by Marik I was so lost and confused and unsure? He'd been through a penalty game before too, I'd seen it with my own eyes at duelist kingdom and from what you guys told me that wasn't even his first one. So how come he wasn't broken? I think that if Alister hadn't called dibs on him, I would have went after his soul instead of Pegasus' to be honest. Even if the person I thought I was most angry was Joey."

Mai shook her head, and tucked a strand of her long blonde hair behind her ear. "Now I understand though, that I was just angry at the world because I was angry at myself. Because my confidence had been shaken." Mai admitted uncomfortably. "But the Seto Kaiba I thought that I was angry at isn't the person I just saw. I'm seeing that ultimately hurt and afraid little boy who tramples others feelings that I saw the first time I dueled him. When Gozaboro's death was still splashed all across the six o'clock news and people were wondering whether or not he killed him. After all, how could someone who just lost their parent act that way. The first thing he did was enter a tournament, before the guy was even in the ground. Now I understand that he just acted that way because he was angry, and really, really hurt. He felt alone, like no one understood his pain. He wanted them to experience it, to know it. To understand what it was like to hurt so much you can't even sleep at night. I know because I've been there. I was unwilling to stop at anything, I wanted the whole world to suffer. I had Dartz to help me, he had Kaiba Corporation. So he treated people with cruel and reckless abandon. That's what he was doing tonight too. For him to fall back to his old habits, you must have really hurt him a lot. I wouldn't be surprised if the reason he lashed out was because he didn't want to cry in front of you."

"So what do we do?" Tea asked. Joey shrugged.

"Not much you can do. I thought I could stop Mai too, but you can't. All I did was make her angrier, push her away. Eventually I realized that by acting as though I could save her and that everything would be alright when she was yelling at me how she felt, I was making her feel as though her feelings weren't, you know, real. Eventually I realized that if I wanted to save Mai, I couldn't hold back in our duel. That she had to realize she was wrong all on her own. It was tough but I had to back off." Joey replied.

"Just respect his space and give him some time. He'll come around. He's not that bad a person deep down." Mai replied.

"Yeah, really deep, deep down. Like in a bottomless evil pit down!" Joey nodded. Mai rolled her eyes and Joey grinned.

"And he's learned a lot, I don't think he'll go back to the person that he was. He just needs to do some soul searching, now."

"Yeah, the guy is a bastard and I hate him. But he isn't the psycho he used to be." Joey admitted begrudgingly, folding his arms across his chest. Joey hated to admit it, but he knew Kaiba probably wouldn't of attacked him if hadn't attacked him first. He was hoping to get a least one hit in though. The guy ran his mouth way too much for Joey's taste. Tea nodded her head weakly and wrung her hands. She couldn't get that hurt look on his face before he flipped out, out of her head. It was though he had taken her heart and shattered into a million pieces with that one look. It was as though she was drowning in the water and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't breathe. Just thinking about the fact she had waited to long and had lost him left her feeling as though she was sinking to the bottom of the ocean and no matter how she kicked and screamed she would never resurface. It hurt to breathe.

Mokuba shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Tea's reaction made it painfully obvious who she had chosen, even if she didn't know it yet. There was no sense of relief that his brother finally knew and she could end the charade. She was devastated.

"Tea, I don't think it's a good idea for us to see each other anymore. I think we both know that this hasn't been working for a while now, but we were just too stubborn to admit it. I hope we can still be friends." Mokuba suddenly announced, placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing it. Tea only nodded numbly. She was surprised to find that the same feeling of devastation wasn't there. She cared about Mokuba and was glad he wanted to remain friends. But being dumped by him was more a relief than anything else. A burden off her shoulders. She shouldn't have been with him in the first place and now that it was over; she hoped to win Seto Kaiba back. If he would come back, she could breathe again. Mokuba shifted uncomfortably as Tea suddenly embraced him and kissed him on the cheek.

"_I'm sorry, I have no excuse. I have no right to ask, but please forgive me. I wasn't trying to lead you on, I'm sorry._" Tea sobbed, crying on his shoulder. Mokuba stiffened, trying his best not to cry anymore. She was crying because she wanted to be with his brother. He knew he should be ashamed. But the only thing he really felt was anger. Mokuba exhaled and placed one arm gently around her trying to force himself to be calm, even though seeing her only made him angrier. Angry at his brother for dating her in the first place. Angry at Yugi and his friends for not saying something to stop them when they had tried to stop people who were far scarier and who meant far less to them supposedly. But most of all he was angry at himself, for allowing things to go as far they did. The only time his brother had needed protection from a situation instead of the other way around, and he had failed. Mokuba dug his free hand into the fabric of the sofa, clenching it in his fists and glaring at the wall. He made a silent pledge to himself, he wouldn't fail again. He wasn't going to be the weak Kaiba brother. He wasn't going to let his emotions get the best of him again. And if that meant getting his brother to forgive the woman that they both loved so that they could both either reconcile or move on with their lives, than so be it. They had been through too much for him to throw it all away. He also had no intention of allowing the board of directors to take things any further. They had to be stopped no matter the costs. His brother had been through enough embarrassment to last a lifetime, enough pain to last an eternity. If you looked up self sacrifice in the dictionary, Mokuba knew that Seto Kaiba's picture deserved to be there even if no one else understood.

"Don't worry Tea, I'm going to fix all of this." Mokuba insisted. "No matter what it takes, I'll fix it." When Mokuba finally left Tea's apartment, he headed straight to Kaiba Corporation. He wanted to ensure he got there before everyone else did even his workaholic brother. The sun hadn't even begun to rise yet as Mokuba snuck through the emergency tunnel entrance into building. Today was the big meeting with the board of directors and the Valkners, and Mokuba was going to make sure it ended in their defeat by any means necessary.

* * *

1: I figured that Gozaboro was probably about 20 years older than Pegasus and about 30 years older than Kaiba.


	18. The Meeting

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh  
WARNING: CHARACTER DEATH

_Italics=Japanese_

Seto Kaiba, despite being unafraid to take risks, wasn't what you would call a gambling man. Sure, he took risks every single day but he wouldn't really call them gambles. After all, just by waking up and walking out the door everyone took risks with their own lives every single day. But it was probably safe to say that eating a bowl of cereal in the morning wouldn't cost you your life. Sure there was the off chance that you could accidentally eat a poisonous spider that got packaged with the bananas and somehow managed to survive or you could choke on your food. But statistically speaking, it wasn't a gamble. And that is the realm Seto Kaiba thrived in, took comfort in, and trusted; Information, data, statistics. He didn't simply duel people or challenge them in the business world, he calculated the odds of his victory and then acted. If the chances of victory were so low as to be a gamble, he changed things. Added this card, brought this person's expertise into the mix, redesigned that part or this operating system until he was all but assured of success. One of the most frustrating things about his duels with Yugi Moto in fact were that the shorter duelists victories defied logic. Whenever he and Yugi dueled ( even when removing talent and going solely based on possible card combinations, number crunched in his dueling simulator thousands of times to account for margins of error) the computer had calculated that Yugi's odds of victory were only a slim 1% or less. He didn't even bother challenging Yugi until the statistics were so far on his side that his victory against Yugi were all but guaranteed. Yet somehow, inexplicably, he still had not won more than a single match against Yugi.

When he had first realized that no matter how hard he tried, no matter how massively stacked the odds were against Yugi Moto, he still couldn't beat the younger man it had made him feel worthless; like he was nothing. Although part it was because he had lost, again, it mostly had to do with how much the duel had been designed for his victory. He had blocked Yugi's friends from easy sight with the Colosseum, he had gotten his own blood pumping with cheering fans, he had run every single possible combination of cards again and again in his super computer. He had dueled Yugi on top of the ruins of his stepfather's secret headquarters to give him even more motivation to beat Yugi so that it became less of a want and more of a desperate need, he had even obtained an Egyptian God card and developed strategies against them. So if Yugi still managed to beat him, it was because he himself was a loser. If nothing could stop his victory, that meant that he himself was nothing. It had been a painful realization. One he thought about now as he sat on the foot of his bed in the darkness of the night before the board meeting. To know that just as he couldn't stop his stepfather in the end from influencing his every action, he could not beat Yugi Moto in a duel was infuriating. Now that Yugi had the Egyptian God Cards he knew it was going to take something new to win. He just hoped it came in the form of a new card and not a new strategy that he had failed (yet again) to notice.

The only thing that had made it better was that even though he knew he was nothing, the public didn't think of him that way. This privacy had allowed him to reboot. To rebuild his company, to rediscover himself. And from the depths of the darkest nights, he had rebuilt his company into something far more powerful (and stable) than it had ever been before. It was as though he himself was a dragon. Dragons were born in the darkness of the ocean, puny, weak and pathetic sea horses. But they rose up into the heavens and the world shook in fear and awestruck admiration at their power when they grew up and realized their full powers. He himself was able to realize all of his abilities, not just duel monsters and duel monster accessories. He had the time to build schools, open theme parks, and push technology further and further. He could tell that Kaiba Corp, with himself at the helm, was going to revolutionize the world. Some of the tech was still in the idea phase, decades away from being able to be utilized. Like the idea he had gotten for revolutionizing the way games were played using motorcycles, though it was decades away from being something he could actually make without it being hokey. But still, he knew that Domino City and the world would be changed for the better when he was finished. He was going to make an impression, an indelible mark on the world that would be remembered in the history books or die trying. He allowed himself a dark laugh, then nobody would be able to call him loser. When Yugi Moto lay in the ground, dead and forgotten, while he himself remained immortal through the mark his tech left on the world and the tales told about him in the history books, it would be Yugi Moto who was nothing. And everyone else who had ever been cruel to him, who had doubted him.

Kaiba clenched his jaw because he knew that people would forget. Just like it had been all to easy for society to forget his parents. Just like it had been all to easy for his real father to forget that he had sons and throw himself in front of a car for some brat that didn't listen when she was told not to run into the street. For his family to forget about their nephew the second inheritance had entered the equation. For Mokuba for forget the promise they had made to each other to always be there for each other, to never try to purposefully hurt one another. For his stepfather to forget that he wasn't just an heir, wasn't just something to be molded so that his company would be run the way he wanted it to be when he could not longer run it, but he was also his son. Sons were something to be loved and cherished, whose hard work was something to acknowledge. Yet Gozaboro had chosen to forget that. Like Tea Gardner had forgotten he was a human being, who even though he wasn't so pathetic and weak as to wear his own emotions on his sleeve, still felt things that the machines she sometimes accused of him of being could not. The way his board of directors seemed to have forgotten that his own image was so inextricably tied to Kaiba Corp's that his embarrassment would be the company's profit loss. Seto Kaiba was tired of people's selective memories, and tired of always being forgotten and abandoned. Yet it had happened to him so many times, that he had learned to operate safely within the shadows of the forgotten memories. He had valued the privacy and thinking time he got from being alone so much, he used the deadly business skills Gozboro had forgotten could be used against him to takeover the company. He was an absurd contradiction, someone easily noticed and yet completely looked through and forgotten. Like a window pane, or a ghost. Which was apt since sometimes he felt as though he were already dead inside.

Yet just like a giant window pane, that read do not touch, once people noticed it they wanted to touch it. To mess it up, to ruin it. Once people knew how weak and pathetic he had been, that his past wasn't something that he wanted to talk about, they would drag him to the forefront and use it against him. They would shove him in front of cameras and demand he talk about his past. They would try to break him. And Kaiba knew that even if he did repair the damage, just like a crack in a window even if you fixed it, people would always still see it. Would always view that window as less than a window, not fit to exist. People would see him the same way, he would always be a liar. A hypocrite, a pathetic orphan who was just overcompensating because he knew was worthless as a human being. All of his accomplishments would suddenly come with qualifiers. When he opened his school, they would claim that the reason it was a boarding school was because as an orphan he assumed that children didn't need their families and that all they needed was three meals a day and a bed to sleep on. When he got frustrated at the inane ramblings of an employee, it wouldn't be because he was tough but fair. It would be because he didn't have parents to teach him any better. When people talked about numerous accomplishments he had achieved when he was younger, they would speak derogatorily instead of in awe. When they talked about the fact that he was the youngest chess grandmaster in all of Japan, the youngest person to fly solo across around the world, the youngest person to achieve the highest score in every single arcade game in Japan.

They would say, well he didn't have parents so he could do whatever he wanted. When he finally decided to get a wife, his doctor would probably encourage them to dig up his roots because she could be exposing her kids to a host of genetic diseases that he didn't know about. The ridiculous business partners that had tried to arrange marriages between him and their daughters to keep the bloodline free from all but the purest of blood lines such as the Kaiba would sneer at him in disgust and comment on his dirty blood the way they already did some of his peers. They would look at him as dirty, new money instead of old money, wild instead of strong willed and independent. Kaiba didn't doubt that most every thing positive about him would be spun into something negative, as though there was something inherently wrong with him.

Gozaboro had done it countless times, and his board members were doing it now. He couldn't let them ruin his life. Yet even though his victory was now all but assured, he couldn't help but be haunted by Yugi Moto and Gozaboro's images. They kept him from sleep. After all, his victory had been all but certain when he faced them too. And yet somehow, even after throwing himself from a window Gozaboro Kaiba still managed to keep him awake at night and control some of his behavior and the very way he viewed the world from beyond the grave. Yugi Moto had somehow snatched his victory away from him at Battle City. And without Mokuba fully by his side, he didn't know if he would be once again robbed of his victory. If he had the skill to control the the board meeting in the morning, where he knew they would probably once again try to wield his past against him, if he didn't have the one person on his side that had given him the strength to emerge victorious. After all, he had Mokuba's safety to thank for his successful manipulation of Yugi's will during Duelist Kingdom. He had Mokuba to thank for the two percent he needed to takeover Kaiba Corp. This time though, Mokuba hated him. If he didn't before he had pushed him away at Tea Gardener's house, he certainly did now. He had to face everything alone, and the idea of that scared him more than he would ever outwardly show or admit. Kaiba shook his head and stood up, he needed to take a shower and get some sleep. He had a tough fight ahead of him and he even though he found himself both scared at facing the threat alone and excited to crush his boards takeover ideas before they even began, he needed to get some sleep.

Meanwhile, Alister smirked as he looked up at the Kaiba estate. It had only taken him a couple of hours to drive up from where he was in Pennsylvania and now that he was here he knew that he was going to pay the elder Kaiba a little visit before the board meeting. It hadn't escaped his notice that Kaiba was secretly harboring serious arms for the Japanese government inside Gozaboro's old warehouses. It also hadn't escaped his notice that one of Kaiba's inventions had been used to perfect the deceased elder Kaiba's missiles. While he was furious over that aspect, after all it was the model that had killed his little brother allowing him to settle for Seto Kaiba for his revenge when Gozaboro had died. He now knew (after the blinding haze of revenge had cleared from his eyes) that he couldn't blame him anymore than he could blame the other children in the war for stealing food. He had done his homework on Gozaboro Kaiba and knew he was an easy man to hate even if he hadn't been the one to kill his brother. He was a war monger. Dartz may have killed his brother, but Gozaboro was responsible for the death of many children just like him. Alister ran a hand through his hair. He was grateful to Seto Kaiba for teaching him that it was possible to protect these children. It had given him a new reason to live, one that didn't involve destruction. One that allowed him to keep his brother's memory alive. Something he had lost sight of when traveling with Dartz.

Yet, he still couldn't help but disliking Seto Kaiba. Which is why he was hesitant about helping the man, even if he did agree to it. Because like him or not, he owed him. A lot, a life even considering how close he'd come to taking the man's soul and then going down in a flashy murder-suicide with his at the time twelve year old little brother aboard the Kaiba Craft III. So he owed him this favor. Owed him more than he could repay, whether he wanted to or not. And he needed to atone for his actions, all of the horseman did. They had almost destroyed the world, after all. Kaiba, Yugi, and Joey were the chosen duelists of the legendary heroes of Atlantis and had saved the world from their destruction. As far as Alister was concerned he owed all of them for each and every life they stopped him from taking, and for allowing him to truly live again. He knew this all intellectually, but in his heart he wanted to do nothing more than see Seto Kaiba on his knees in defeat, for designing the targeting system inside the bomb that had killed his brother. Which is why he intended to make asking for favors as uncomfortable for Seto Kaiba as he possibly could.

He clutched his hand around a small magical green stone tied around his neck. It was the original piece of the Orichalcos that was left behind after Dartz duel against the ancient Pharaoh. Since they hadn't used it on anyone, and it had been drained of all it's power it would require sacrifices to reach the power levels it held prior to that again. However, it could still allow someone to take the form of another person (as Dartz had done Gozaboro Kaiba) and travel anywhere he wished and leave again, as he had done to Raphael to shipwreck him. He could also project his voice into people's minds, as he did Raphael when helped escape the island he'd been marooned on by guiding him to raft and telling him to come find him. Tonight he was going to use it to mess with Seto Kaiba, he grinned and let himself into Kaiba's room.

Alister glanced around the room that looked like could easily belong in a palace, complete with Canopy bed with rich purple trim and a rich mahogany table with solid gold handles at the foot of it. He rolled his eyes and walked over to the bathroom where he could hear Kaiba taking a shower. He grinned, it was almost too perfect to be true.

Kaiba closed his eyes and let the hot water run down his back, kneading the overworked muscles. He sighed, it still wasn't enough. He would probably need to use his artificial hot spring to get out all the kinks. He rinsed some shampoo out of his hair, and after lingering just a bit longer in the relaxing hot water turned the knobs to turn the water off. Stepping out of the shower, he shook the water out of his hair and sighed. The muscles in his back were still pretty sore, he would definitely need to bathe in the hot spring. He grabbed a deep purple robe off the hook on his door and tied it tightly around his waist, and slung a towel over his shoulder. No sooner had he walked out the door however was his eyes covered from behind and an arm wrapped around his waist.

"Peekaboo," a malevolent sounding voice called from behind. Kaiba quickly tried to elbow his assailant in the face. Alister grinned and decided to sit himself on Kaiba's bed instead of sticking around for the blow to the side of the ahead. He watched in amusement as the force that Kaiba put into the motion sent him stumbling backwards when it didn't connect with anything. Kaiba glared at Alister and dropped his defensive stance.

"What are you doing here?" Kaiba hissed.

"Just checking in on you. I heard you got yourself into a bit of a jam." Alister said simply, pretending to find some interesting underneath his fingernails. Kaiba's jaw clenched and he eyed Alister carefully.

"I'm sure Mokuba has filled you in on the details." Kaiba replied after a moment. He wasn't an idiot, he knew Alister was just toying with his head. The question was it because he was simply insulting to all business partners, as he'd seen him behave several times or was this something more insidious. Kaiba didn't really trust him.

"I want to hear it from you." Alister grinned.

"Fine then, how about this. A few board members have stumbled across some information I don't want made public. Since I saved your pathetic butt because you were just as broken as that doll you're always toting around, I'm calling in the debt you owe me to ensure that I get my way. Afterwards, if I never see you again, it will be too soon." Kaiba smirked. The grin on Alister's face dropped, which only caused Kaiba's smirk to grow wider. Alister stood up and played with the glowing green stone around his neck for a moment angrily, reminding himself of the promise he'd made to his brother Mike he took a deep breath and glared at Kaiba.

"You know, you're one to talk. I know why you got plastic surgery Seto, all those scars and all over your body. Don't forget, I've been watching you for a long time. I could have killed you at any moment. That I spared your life up til now is payment enough, I would say." Alister grinned.

"Feh, We both know how it turned out when you tried." Kaiba shot back. Alister clenched his fist.

"I let you win that duel."

"Hmphm. That's as ridiculous as Joey Wheeler dueling his way out of a paper bag." Kaiba snorted.

"Fine, if you feel that way then surely you don't need my help." Alister said, heading towards the door. He grinned when he placed his hands around the knob and heard a muffled noise come from behind him.

"What was that?" Alister asked, grinning as he cocked his head and watched Kaiba from the corner of his eye.

"I said wait. Maybe we can make a deal of some sort." Kaiba said after a moment, crossing his arms and glaring. Alister spun on his heel and walked towards Kaiba, stopping in front of him.

"That's better. Now then, say please." Alister grinned.

"Just name your terms." Kaiba spat back.

"Beg like a dog." Alister replied back, smirking.

"Who do you take me for, Joey Wheeler. Get lost." Kaiba laughed dismissively. Alister sighed, he may have overplayed his hand there.

"Relax, you overgrown idiot I'm just messing with you. For someone who owns an empire based around them, you sure can't recognize games when you see them. Maybe that's what you're in the trouble you're in now. Or maybe you're just slipping. What afraid that people are going to find out you're no better than that snake you call a father? As the Americans say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Tell me Kaiba how many people has your targeting system killed? How much children's blood is on your hands? Do you really think anything I say or do is going to change the fact that everyone knows this was a weapons manufacturing company? Even if it comes out that you designed the targeting system, no one is going to be surprised. Because they all know you built this company up using blood money!"

"Alister..." Kaiba frowned, uncrossing his arms. Apparently, Mokuba had given him enough information. "I..that's not what I'm trying to keep covered up. Even though few know that, most people are content to blame me for Gozaboros actions. If I had a nickel for every time came barging into my office calling me evil and ranting about my money, I'd be even richer."

Alister's eyebrows knitted in confusion. "What then?"

"Apparently, my board seems to think that being an orphan is a dirty word. They are trying to use my adoption against me. Surely, as someone who has lost more family than I have, you can understand why that can't be allowed." Kaiba stated finally. Alister's fist clenched in rage.

"They're doing what?" Alister hissed. As much as he hated Kaiba, he knew that a lot of children looked up to him. Idolized and adored him. Including the numerous orphans Kaiba had helped through charity, including letting each and every one of them in free to his amusement parks. If they tried to spin Kaiba's past of being an orphan as though it was somehow his fault, as if somehow it made him inferior to others, then many of them would probably internalize that. After all, if even the mighty Seto Kaiba wasn't exempt, how could they expect to be treated any differently? Alister knew too many good kids who needed a home, and war orphans had the hardest time of any of them finding one. He knew from personal experience, even the ones lucky enough to find themselves with shelter often had to deal with adults taking their frustrations out on them. They had to deal with low adoption rates because people didn't have the means or because people viewed them as damaged property. Kaiba studied Alisters reaction carefully.

"Alright, I'll help you. But just know this doesn't make us even. I'm doing this for myself. And when you actually do need a favor that makes us even, you will ask nicely." Alister replied, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"I wouldn't hold your breath." Kaiba replied, smirking and crossing his arms over his chest. Alister smirked and nodded before leaving the Kaiba mansion. He didn't know why, but every time he understood a new piece of information about Kaiba he liked him just a little bit more. It was annoying.

The following morning, Mokuba carefully adjusted the guiding system of the guns that were positioned around the table, making sure that the one aiming for his brother's bio signs wouldn't hit a vital organ or a debilitating area. He had went to a secret part of Kaiba Corp that the employees had long since forgotten and grabbed out a weapon that hadn't been used since Gozaboro was in power. It had been an easier decision than it should have been. If worse came to worse, he would was going to use force to ensure that his brothers private life was kept private, even if it meant he went to jail. Every single board member other than him would be shot, everyone but his brother would die. Mokuba figured his big brother already hated him after all, and if a shove was what it took to protect him then that was what he was going to do. He understood it now. He understood his brother's actions when he had shoved him to the ground and accused of him of ratting out his takeover plans to Gozaboro all those years ago. One quick burst of pain to replace a lifetime's worth. A short burst of pain for a lifetime of happiness. Of course he wouldn't kill his brother, but he certainly intended on killing the board and the Valkners, if it came down to it. Of course, he would be the obvious suspect which is why he had initially ruled out this sort of tactic from the beginning. But at least no one would bother his brother, since he would be have to endure some of the pain too. He just hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Mokuba watched carefully as Ohhira and the rest of the board entered the room, followed by Siegfried and the Valkners.

"Good morning, herr Kaiba. I trust you got a good nights sleep." Siegfried said, tossing his hair behind his back and grinning malevolently.

"I'm fine." Mokuba replied, "How about you? Were you able to sleep at night?"

Siegfried let out a haughty laugh, "Like a baby." He answered. Pegasus, Alister and Kaiba arrived soon after.

"Shall we proceed." Kaiba asked, taking his seat at the head of the table and picking up his cup of water. Mokuba watched as his brother sat in position of the weapon. It took all of his strength not to stop him.

"Right, I suppose we should start by reading the minutes from the last meeting." Ohhira grinned. "We established that the President was a lying, dirty orphan. His mother was nothing more than a stripper and a prostitute. He made a foolish deal with the Valkner company and we are here today to seek a resolution of this problem."

Kaiba narrowed his eyes, but said nothing further. He wasn't going to show weakness and succumb to their tactics so easily.

"Ah, Pegasus I see that you have reconsidered our deal." Ms. Valkner grinned at him.

"Actually, I've thrown my glove in with Kaiba boy, his products are much more duel monsters friendly. Besides, I can't have the only maker of the holo-cartoons mad at me; especially now when I'm so close to getting him to include Funny Bunny in the lineup." Pegasus grinned, steepling his hands. Kaiba rolled his eyes at the flustered look that overcame the plump woman's face. Had he really been that easy to bait when he was younger?

"Pegasus surely you jest." Siegfried growled. The last thing he needed was for Pegasus to be his adversary. He owned the brand name to Duel Monsters and he needed to keep his license if he was going to continue to compete with Kaiba Corp's products.

"Who me? Why no one could ever accuse of me not taking things seriously or making cheap jokes. No, if there is one thing I am is serious, isn't that right Kaiba boy?"

"Enough of the sideshow. Lets get on with main attraction, shall we?" Kaiba grinned, as Siegfried posture tensed ever so slightly, giving away his nervousness. Kaiba had been called many things as a businessman: a snake, a fox, a weasel, a young dragon. And while he was particularly fond of that last title, he knew he most resembled a shark. He loved the feeling he got when his competition showed weakness, and struck whenever he saw a chink in their armor. Just like a shark circling it's prey once it caught even the slightest hint of blood.

"I agree." Ohhira said, grinning. "Bring in our witness." He laughed, pushing in the KC logo radio transmitter on his suit. Kaiba arched an eyebrow, not expecting any witnesses. He turned towards the door and the smirk dropped from his face as he was confronted with the image of his aunt, who even now looked so much like his mother that it hurt. They had been twins, after all.

'Hello Seto, it's been a long time." She said smugly, walking towards him. He felt her arms wrap around his neck in an embrace, and he noticed vaguely she was using the same perfume his mother always wore. It felt surreal and sent him reeling, he knew he should be alarmed. He knew he should be pushing the woman away, but it had been so long since his real mother held him. And she looked so much like her. She pulled away and took a seat next to him, resting her chin in the palm of her hand smiling up at him.

"What are you doing here?" Mokuba hissed, unlike his brother she only brought back the unpleasant memory of being dumped in the orphanage. He had never actually met his mother, she had died giving birth to him after all. Still, he'd seen her picture and knew that his brother's emotions must have been difficult to process.

"I'm here to set things right and apologize to you, Mokuba." She said, taking his hand into hers and squeezing.

"First, I know it's too little too late..." She said distractedly, "But here is a check for you, in the amount of your inheritance. This money was rightfully yours, Mokuba." She pulled out a check from her purse, a silver clutch and handed it to him. "Of course, it's part of the large check your board of directors here wrote me to adhere to the terms of this meeting, so I suppose since it coming from your paycheck it means little."

"I..." Mokuba stared at the check in wonder. Even though he made several times that, seeing the large amount of money stolen from them when he thought of all the things that had suffered through made him angry.

"As for you Seto, I've got nothing but advice for you." She said, Kaiba narrowed his eyes.

"Enlighten me." He growled, reigning himself in. This woman clearly didn't come here just for that.

"I think you should take the board of directors deal, if you don't I am not going to hesitate to capitalize on this being released. After all, I have to protect my family too. I won't have you painting me as some kind of monster." She replied casually, a smirk playing across her face.

"You stole my inheritance and dumped me in an orphanage, it's too late for that." Kaiba said dismissively, crossing his arms over his chest. His aunt crossed her legs, a cocky grin similar to his own forming on her face. Mokuba watched them quietly, it was weird seeing the woman there. This is what his mother must've looked like, and indeed Kaiba and his aunt even carried themselves in much the same manner. There was a certain amount of danger in their movements, a hostility in their seemingly aloof and casual mannerisms.

"I only fulfilled my late sisters wishes." His aunt said calmly, watching Kaiba's reaction carefully.

"What you talking about Haru." Kaiba growled, glaring at her coldly. It was a look that frightened most people that were unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of it, Haru just smirked.

"Oh come now nephew, don't be unpleasant. That's Aunt Haru, if you please." She laughed. "I speak only the truth. You see, you were never supposed to be a part of this family. You were a burden from the moment you were born. Too smart for you own well being." Haru said, standing up and circling him. She placed a palm on his shoulder and gave it a soft squeeze. "You were also quite a troublesome child, very unpleasant. You belittled your peers, which is why you never had any friends. You required constant attention, seeing as you how you insisted on dismantling everything to see how it worked. Worse of all, even your teachers hated you Seto. You weren't just smart, you were arrogant."

"That's a lie." Kaiba hissed. He had tried earnestly to make friends when he was younger, before his parents had died. But the second his peers had found out he was different on the first day of school, they all started teasing and bullying him. Sure, he had fallen asleep in class a few times but that was mostly because the work was too easy. It wasn't like he had meant to be disruptive.

"Is it Seto?" His Aunt asked, pulling a old yellowed letter from her purse. "I think it is. The fact of the matter is your parents felt they no matter how hard they tried with you, it was never going to be right. You were like a demon child."

"I was only seven years old when my father died, you were an adult. There isn't thing I could have done that you shouldn't have been able to handle." Kaiba growled, "Even if what you were saying was truth all I hear is that you were a failure. As for your insinuations about my mother and farther, I'll say this they were ten times the parent then you ever could have been."

"Seto, Seto, Seto, I"m just trying to help you out here. Trying to put things in perspective, don't be unreasonable. You were a worthless child, and your still worthless judging by how poorly you are able to handle this company. I know you were taken over by paradis, every knows that. So what is this, takeover attempt number two are their others I don't know about?" She shrugged. "Then again, you seem to bring out the worst in people."

"Heh, just because these idiots are stupid enough to play with fire doesn't mean that my brother is weak." Mokuba piped in. Haru sighed, and gave Mokuba a pitying look.

"You were always so dedicated to your brother, I just couldn't separate you two. I guess I really am a saint." She smirked. "Your mother, my sister died giving birth to you. So I suppose I should hate you, but I know it's not your fault sweetheart. It's Seto's fault. Why else would your mother even attempt to give birth after her doctor told her what the consequence would be and urged her to terminate the pregnancy. She wanted a fresh start." Haru replied, turning towards Seto.

"That's a lie..." Kaiba protested, standing up out of his chair and glaring at her.

"Then why were your parents trying to give you for adoption?" Haru said, handing the paper over to him. Kaiba's eyes widened, and he snatched the letter from her hands. Haru just smirked and sat down, crossing her legs. "Why don't you read that out loud so your little brother can hear and finally stop feeling guilty over his mothers death." She commanded.

"Dear Sister, we are going to visit soon. It might be the last chance to talk to Seto. We are thinking of giving him to a different family that is rich. Maybe they can handle him better. I can't do it..." Kaiba read out loud, trailing off.

"Don't you see, I was just fulfilling my sisters dying wish. I'm no monster, you are. And you always have been. You have never been loved and no one could ever love you. But I'm willing to keep quiet, in order to protect my dear sisters memory. To be honest, you remind me of her in your appearance. Your looks are the only good quality you possess, seeing you reminds me of my sister so I can't help but want to hold you. Of course, looks fade. It's a terrible thing to have as your only good quality. Still, I'm willing to go against my better judgment and grant you just that one thing for her sake." Haru finished. Mokuba's eyes widened.

"_Big brother..._" Mokuba began, placing a hand on his shoulder. "_Don't listen to her._"

"Mokuba dear, please stop filling your brothers heads with lies. It's good that he knows. Maybe he can dedicate his life to a cause that is actually worth something instead of wasting space."

"You're the liar!" Mokuba yelled.

"Can you even name one person that hasn't seriously betrayed and hurt you or abandoned you the second they got the opportunity. Heck, I bet even little Mokuba here has, he always was a smart boy." Haru replied.

"You don't know anything about him!" Mokuba shouted, but Kaiba held a hand up a hand to silence him.

"Heh, well as enlightening as this was it's going to take a lot more than this useless information to stop me. To be honest, that was a complete waste of my time." Kaiba laughed. Haru shrugged.

"It's your funeral, if you don't want anyone there that is fine by me. If I were to attend, it would only to be to laugh." Haru replied, giving him an icy death glare.

"As you can see, Chairman we have you outmatched and outclassed. You have not a single redeeming story to fall back on if this information were to go public. You'd be a fool not to accept out terms and conditions." Ohhira grinned.

"And those are, you sell my company back to me." Mrs Valkner gleefully piped in.

"At cheaper than market value, at your own personal loss." Eric Valkner added.

"You also agree to leave the German market." Siegfried amended.

"And to give up majority control of Kaiba Corp." Warner, one of Kaiba's board members, drawled.

"And of course when you do write your tell-all book, you'll leave me out of it." Haru added.

Pegasus laughed and slowly clapped. "Well done, Gentlemen. I must admit that last personal dig at Kaiba was truly entertaining. Simply marvelous. Wouldn't you agree, Kaiba boy?" Pegasus asked. Alister rolled his eyes and leaned back in chair.

"Just get on with it, will you pretty boy?" Alister growled, "Before Tall,dumb, and ugly over here rips off your head." Alister laughed.

"Tch, fools" Kaiba muttered under his breath.

"Ah, of course. Well the show must go on, hmm?" Pegasus said in malevolently cheery voice. "I must say you have done a great job for a bunch of old dogs. But I fear that your messing with the masters, and you unfortunately for you, you can't teach an old dog new tricks. So let me explain for you how this is going to go. Siegfried, you're going to sign a non-disclosure agreement or I will not renew your license for using the duel monsters logo."

"You can't be serious!" Siegfried yelled, standing up out of his chair so fast it fell down. "Herr Kaiba may be the biggest seller but I do account for 20 percent of all sales of your merchandise. You'd be a fool..."

"Oh, you are right. I'm simply dreadful with math!" Pegasus responded. "How much money do you make off of the duel monsters name, how much of your sales does it account for? 70 pecent, 80 percent? If you lost that many could you make up the money by waiting tables? Or perhaps you could strip for money, I hear that is very lucrative. Oh, and I've heard soup kitchens do have the best food! Wouldn't that be delightful for you?" Pegasus mocked.

"Don't play dumb with me!" Siegfried shouted. Kaiba just grinned.

"Play? But I'm afraid all of life is stage, Siegfried boy and we're all just players in it." Pegasus grinned.  
"I'm afraid I have no choice in that matter. Perhaps you can be play the part of my butler when your company takes. I'll have the staff teach you to wash dishes or something." Pegasus said, waving him off flippantly.

"Kaiba! I don't know what you're offering him. But I'll double it. You won't get away with these little mind games with me!" Siegfried yelled, spinning on his heel and turning towards him.

"Heh, I never joke." Kaiba said, smirking casually. Siegfried's growled and he back down his chair furiously.

"You haven't heard the last of me, Herr Kaiba." Siegfried growled.

"I'm shaking in my thirty thousand dollar boots." Kaiba laughed haughtily, "Try not to get any tears on them when you the doors hits you on the way out."

"Pegasus, surely you must be at least joking. Even you aren't stupid enough to get rid of me. The sales of my portable dueling device are on the rise and I've increased your profit lines by ten percent in a down market." Siegfried tried one last time.

"Oh, I'm not worried about that. If I have to I'll merely buyout your company and turn it over to Kaiba boy here. He's far more fun to mess with anyway." Pegasus chuckled darkly. Siegfried grew quiet and furiously sat back down in his seat.

"I swear it Kaiba, you're going to pay for this." Siegfried hissed.

"Now that little freak show is over, go on Pegasus. And this time make it quick, unlike you I'm a busy man. I don't sit around and watch cartoons all day like an overgrown child."

"No, you must admit to play the card game I designed for children." Pegasus replied. "I must say though, your devotion to the blue eyes white dragon is adorable. Your one of my cutest little fans." Pegasus replied patronizingly.

"Tch, just make your move." Kaiba growled, folding his arm over his chest. Pegasus grinned.

"Gladly." He replied, turning towards Ohhira. "Speaking of buying out companies, I'm JUMPing for joy that the newest one I'm going to acquire when I'm done selling off my shares in Jump Toys. I think I'll trade them for that little old ladies company who makes those collectible funny bunny figurines."

\

"That's not a real company. That's thing is practically worthless, she takes commissions on a free art sharing site because she can't even afford a webpage, surely you must be joking." Ohhira growled.

"Oh, but Funny Bunny's antics are priceless!" Pegasus said, feigning injury. "Well at least to me they are, but perhaps your other investors will see it differently. Surely some will want to off load their shares when they see how cheaply they are going for, before the price bottoms out and the company crashes. But it's all in the name of Funny Bunny, so it's a worth cause. Don't you just love it when he manages to ruin deputy dog's day?"

"Your a madman!" Ohhira shouted, eyes widening. "Do you know how much that would cost me?"

"Oh, I do. But it's not like you'd come out empty handed." Pegasus laughed, "You'd gain Kaiba boy as your chew toy." Kaiba said, placing his hands on Kaiba's shoulders. Kaiba growled, and brushed them off. "Isn't that worth all the hardwork you poured into your company? All of the long hours, the hundreds of millions of dollars? I'm sure he'd blush on the show when he revealed everything, I'm sure you two could have a gay old time." He laughed, shaking Kaiba slightly. Kaiba growled again, and pushed Pegasus off of him.

"If you think I'm going to let you destroy my company..." Ohhira said threateningly. "Then you have another thing coming."

"Oh, poo. Well your no fun. Fine then, have it your way. I won't offload my shares so long as you also sign a non disclosure agreement and forget this silly little plan of yours." Pegasus said, pouting dramatically, and then grinning maliciously when Ohhira sat down.

"Oh Kaiba boy, this was so much fun. Now I know how Funny Bunny feels whenever he takes Deputy Dog's chew toy away." Pegasus laughed, clapping his hands together. "Alister you simply must try it."

"Delighted." Alister grinned as Pegasus sat down, folding his arms across his chest.

"Baldy, I believe your name is Moore." Alister began, pointing to large man sitting next to Ohhira. "Tell me what your job is here."

"I'm the head of Chairman Kaiba's legal department." Moore replied simply.

"Tell me this, how long do you think your going to go to jail for breaking into a psychiatrist office and stealing Kaiba's file." Alister laughed.

"You have no evidence of that." Moore replied cooly.

"Oh, but I do." Alister said simply, "Tell him who I am Gramps." Alister said, nodding towards Kaiba's head of finance.

"Am I supposed to care?" He drawled in his Texas accent, sitting back in his chair and placing his wrinkled hands behind his head.

"Heh, your Warner, the vice president of business strategies and you don't even know who I am." Alister said in faux surprise. "That hurts. All right then what about you pencil neck?" Alister said, turning to the thus far silent member of Kaiba's board of directors. The man slicked a hand through oily brown hair.

"The name is Alan Jackson, and I am the head of Technology and Product Management. You may address me by either my name or my title." He replied.

"While I'm still young pencil neck." Alister said, snapping his fingers. The man shrugged and narrowed his eyes.

"All right since my face isn't dawning on you, maybe my name will. The name's Alister, and I am the CEO of Paradis Investment Corporation." Alister said, grinning as all of their faces lit up in recognition and alarm.

"Oh no!" Moore said, jumping out his chair.

"Oh yes, I own a portion of every major company in the title world. Including the ones that Kaiba's psychiatrist here works first, and the one that runs the surveillance equipment used at the orphanage Kaiba was housed in, and the one that runs owns the surveillance used here. Which means I have proof that not only did you two idiots hire someone to steal Kaiba's personal records," He said gesturing to Jackson and Warner, "but you Mr. Moore got off on the pleasure of breaking into his files personally by seducing her."

"They broke into my former psychiatrists office?" Kaiba asked.

"Yup, that's how they knew exactly which buttons to push." Alister said simply. "They know what bothers you the most because you told it to her back when you had to have meetings to prove you competency in taking over as Mokuba Kaiba's legal guardian when you were only a minor yourself."

"You wouldn't dare!" Moore roared. "I'd take you down with me!"

"Hmm, must be enough years to have you shaking." Alister laughed. "Oh, but that's not all you three. You see, I'll not only make sure that you go down. But I'll also make sure you will never find work again, not even flipping burgers. If you think any company would be wiling to risk me buying them for petty thieves well, you're insane." Alister finished.

"If you think you scare me, you are seriously delusional." Eric Valkner replied. "You may have a lot of money, but I have something even better. Power. If any company stands a chance at taking Paradis down, it's ours. The only reason we're having any trouble with this insignificant street urchin is that he is one third of our power at the moment. But Kaiba will do anything to keep this quiet, I have him by leash that the pathetic little dog he resembles."

"That's right brother." Mrs. Valkner agreed. "Well said, the truth of the matter is that I don't care about any of these fools."

"Do you know what my favorite hobby is, fatty?" Alister asked, turning towards Mrs. Valkner. "What about you Vanilla Gorilla?" He asked Eric.

"You ask that as though I care." Eric replied.

"You should. My most favorite hobby in the world, is finding all the bad people who sell off illegal arms." Alister laughed. "Which is why I own a pretty sizable portion of your company, Eric."

"I don't know what your talking about." Eric lied.

"Don't you? You ever wonder who that large investor named Dyna Guy is?" Alister asked. Eric's eyes widened and pulled out his phone and quickly called a number. The theme song to the Dyna Guy cartoon began playing in the room and Alister answered his cell phone, smiling malevolently.

"Hi!" He waved, at Eric. Eric's jaw hung open as he hung up the phone his eyes never leaving Alister's face.

"Thats right, unless you want the government taking your money away, while I buy up the rest of the legal assets of the company, you will agree to Kaiba's terms."

"Why you little..." Eric Valkner growled, clutching his fist so hard that his knuckles turned white.

"My advice. Don't think of it as losing a company, think of it was winning the ability of keeping your neck in one piece. I hear they hang people for Treason." Alister finished. "Kaiba would, you care to finish them?"

"Aunt Haru, I assume you're willing to remain quiet as neither you or your sister's reputation is no longer in jepoardy." Kaiba said turning towards her.

"Fine by me. The only person you can trust is yourself, you understand nephew business is business. As long as you hold up your end of the deal and keep your mouth shut, I'll do the same." She replied.

"Feh, fine by me. Now get out of my sight." Kaiba commanded.

"Your nothing pleasant to look at either." She replied, glaring. "Trust me the less time spent in your company the better."

"Traitor!" Mrs. Valkner screamed, "We had a deal!"

"Sorry, but I already cashed the check lady. Ask my nephew here how much I care about deals and loyalty." She said, smirking. Kaiba frowned. He really did hate being in her prescence. It was obvious that the two were related to anyone with eyes, he could even see some of his mannerisms in her own. It hurt to hate her because he did genuinely want to like her especially the way she glared. It reminded him of one of his favorite traits of his mother. Her strength, she often won arguments with a single look. Nobody dared to mess with her, and being twins his aunt had the same look.

"Well, if there is no further business to discuss, all of you get out of my sight." Kaiba said coldly.

"This isn't over. I'll tell everyone! Do you think I care about my life? Or prison? What company do I have left to steal?" Mrs. Valkner yelled. "My husband died and I don't care about joining him. But I will not let you take away the only mark he has left in this world!"

"Bring in the agreements." Kaiba said, snapping his fingers. Mokuba nodded and pushed a button on his radio, and soon Roland came in and brought out the contracts.

"This is how this is going to work. You all are going to sign a contract agreeing not to divluge any personal information about me ever, including given me full legal rights to any and all physical and digital works that might include information about me that would be released upon death. Furthermore, the board of directors agree to cut their own salaries and donate the money to the charity of my choice. I think one dealing with orphans who actually are needy is appropriate punishment for you all finding it so funny." Kaiba replied.

"War orphans would be better." Alister replied, thinking out loud.

"We'll work that part out later." Kaiba said simply. "Siegfried, in lieu of a pay cut you agree to pull out of Japan. I don't want to see your rat face or products in my hometown again." Kaiba continued. Siegfried growled bug signed the agreement furiously as did the rest of the board.

"I still have America and Germany to crush you in, Herr Kaiba. Rest assured you haven't heard the last from me." Siegfried complained. The rest of the board of directors remained silent, watching as Roland collected the rest of the paperwork.

"As for the Valkners, in addition to the non disclosure agreement your signing, your going to help me stop the supplying of illegal arms. I may not be able to stop the worlds wars,but I can at least stop some of the worlds children from becoming war orphans because of your weapons." Alister continued.

"Why do you even care?" Eric growled.

"I was one. In fact, I was in an even worse situation than Kaiba. I literally would have killed to be able to have a dumpster I could raid for leftovers daily. So I take it personally that you would dare hold it against him and try to embarrass him with that information." Alister replied. "I'm doing this for free, in fact. Even though that means I still owe this jerk one." Alister said turning towards Kaiba. Kaiba huffed and folded his arms across his chest.

"I don't need anymore of your help." Kaiba snapped. Alister just chuckled and took the contract from Eric Valkner and handed it over to Roland.

"Your turn." Mokuba said, shoving the pen in Mrs. Valkner's hand. "The sooner you admit defeat, the sooner you can start making legitimate offers to my brother. Who knows, maybe he won't just use those emails as firewood."

"Never." Mrs. Valkner hissed. Mokuba frowned, thus far thing were going well and he didn't even have to use that weapon. He couldn't use it now anyway, everyone had changed positions and most of them had signed the thing. He had hadn't counted on that.

"I'll tell you what. I'm not unreasonable man, in fact I'm filling charitable. I'll agree to sell you your company back at four times the market vale, and if you agree to give Kaiba Corp the exclusive rights to put entertainment systems in your luxury cars if you sign that agreement." Kaiba said at last, grinning malevolently. She glared at him angrily, that deal would make her the biggest overall loser in the room. She sighed finally, and snatched the pen from him signing the contract agreeing to those exact terms (already drawn up ad notated, she noted) placed in front of him.

"For my late husband." She said at last, handing over the embarrassing video tape. Kaiba grinned, it felt good to finally have it in his hands.

"And that gentlemen is why you don't mess with the master." Kaiba smirked, handing it over to Roland who hurriedly left the room so that he could get copies made everywhere and put the originals in a safe place.

"Meeting adjourned." Mokuba said, clapping his hands together. Kaiba watched as his board of directors furiously stood up out of their seats and grinned, walking casually behind them when they heard Mrs. Valkner shout his name. Everyone turned to look at her and Kaiba realized that she was all the way on the other side of the room next to the large windows.

"I may not be able to talk. But everyone shall learn of your evil ways!" Mrs. Valkner declared dramatically, running towards the window. Mokuba's eyes widened and shouted in protest rushing towards her to stop her. Kaiba froze as he watched the scene unfold, feeling himself being drawn back into a different time.

XxXxX Flashback XxXxXxXxXxX

Kaiba Corp Board Room, Domino Japan. Nine years ago(1)

"_The board has spoken. Kaiba Corporations is mine. And you were the one who taught me how to take it." Kaiba grinned, clasping his hands. Gozabora stared at his heir in stunned silence for a moment. _

"_Looks like you've won." Gozabora said, suddenly smiling crazily. "And in every game, the losers fate isn't escapable. Burn this in your memory, my boy. This is what a loser deserves!" Gozaboro shouted, before throwing himself out he window of Kaiba Corp. _

"_Heh heh, Defeat and Death are the same thing. Thank you for teaching me that father. I'll always remember it..." Kaiba grinned evily, not even flinching as tiny pieces of glass fell to the ground. Or when the honk of car alarms and people screaming indicated his stepfather's body had ended it's descent._

_XxXxXxxXxXxX_

Kaiba felt a numbness enter his body as Mokuba skidded to halt as he grabbed too late at the empty space Mrs. Valkner used to stand in. They could hear car alarms now, and a large crowd panicking in the streets. He felt he was watching in slow motion at hearing Eric Valkner's gut wrenching scream as he collapsed to the ground, Siegfried coming quick to place a hand on his back. Kaiba could vaguely hear him Eric scream something at him from behind and he turned around just in time to see Eric's tear streaked face and the barrel of a small gun. He didn't even have time to react before he felt a sharp pain in his chest and felt the world begin to spin around him. He heard Mokuba scream but couldn't see anything as dots of light began to blur his vision, he blinked his eyes a bit and saw red lights flashing on the ceiling.

"...door...won't open...help!" He heard Pegasus voice say, as bits and pieces of their conversations swirled around him. He felt another sharp pain, as though someone's shoe had dug into his groin and chest. He heard panicked shouts fade in and out and strange popping noises but some how he didn't feel any panic. He just felt weak, and tired, and felt intense pain that seemed to block out his other senses. He felt a warm light suddenly engulf him and he smiled as it consumed him.


	19. Face to Face

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh.

Warning: Character Death

_Italics=Japanese  
_

Yugi Moto always tried to do the right thing. He helped little old ladies cross streets, always paid his bills on time, and always helped a friend in need. Which is why as he stared at his ticket at the airport, he didn't know if leaving was the right thing to do. He couldn't be here anymore, of course. He, Serenity, and Tristan had to go back to Japan. Duke and Bakura had to be back in England. They had obligations they needed to fulfill, appointments they needed to keep. People who were counting on them. And while Joey had decided to stay behind to work things out with Mai, since he valued her more than some job at a Cafe, or classes he would miss. They had more pressing matters to attend to. Still he felt bad, he had barely seen Tea in his brief stay here and now that he was leaving he was wondering if it was the right thing to do. Then again, as much as he hated seeing Tea upset wouldn't his time be better spent talking to Kaiba. Besides Mokuba and Tea, Kaiba didn't seem to even listen to anyone else's advice besides Yugi's own. What was the right thing to do when you were so torn between two friends?

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Yugi asked. Tea nodded.

"Please go Yugi, I'd feel even worse if I got you fired." Tea said gloomily, not at all like her usual cheerful self.

"Tea, you know we care about you. You can talk to me about anything. There are more important things in life than money." He replied.

"That's right." Tristan said, slinging an arm around her shoulder. "You want me to go kick Kaiba's ass for you? I might get in trouble for being AWOL, but your worth it."

"He didn't do anything wrong, Tristan. I did." Tea replied dimly, "I never meant to hurt him."

"Cheer up Tea. There are plenty of fish in the sea." Serenity said, patting her on the back.

"She's right. And besides, if I were to rate you, I'd totally give you a 9 out of ten." Duke said, nodding sagely. Serenity whacked him on the arm.

"You should have no trouble finding someone else, wear something low cut and mention your a dancer and therefore really flexible. You'll have every guy in New York running after you." Tristan agreed. "I mean, I remember one time Joey and I did a panty tank, and used a ruler to sneak peeks underneath all the girls at school skirts. You'll be fine." Tristan said, rubbing his chin.

"Your lucky I'm too depressed to hit you for that." Tea sighed.

"I'll do it!" Joey yelled, and then tripping on the ground as Duke placed his foot forward to stop him.

"Would you two idiots knock it off!" He complained.

"Hey watch it Pretty boy!" Joey growled, shaking a fist at Duke. Tea laughed despite herself, and the three turned towards her guilty and gave her a sheepish grin.

"Tea, it's the truth you can count on us always. If things get too hard for you, just give me a call. Anytime, I'm always available to talk to you." Yugi said, smiling.

"Thanks, Yugi." Tea replied, returning a sad soft smile.

"Same here!" Tristan agreed.

"Ditto." Serenity said enthusiastically.

"Agreed." Bakura piped in softly.

"What are friends for?" Duke grinned, sticking a hand in his pocket.

"Ahh, don't worry guys. Rebecca, Mai and I promise to take good care of her." Joey said, placing an arm around Tea reassuringly.

"Heh, it's annoying but Joey's right." Rebecca agreed, pushing her glasses up with her index and middle finger.

"All boarding for Flights 153 through 160." A voice on the intercom suddenly rang.

"Well that's our flight. Goodbye Tea, I'll call you when we get there." Yugi said, giving her a hug. Tea said her goodbyes to her friends as they grabbed their luggage and left. Joey, Mai, Tea and Rebecca waited until they had disappeared from sight before walking off.

"Let's go home." Joey said, gently leading Tea away. She followed behind him them quietly, not at all her usual perky self. When they got to the car, Joey flipped on the news to end the uncomfortable silence.

"Late breaking news, a woman has fallen to her death from the Kaiba Corp building and it seems that some kind of security system has functioned and all of the companies heads are trapped inside." The news announcer declared. Joey's eyes widened and he quickly turned towards Mai and then looked back towards Tea and Rebecca who both had equally frightened expressions on their faces. Wordlessly, he frowned and quickly did a U-turn on the street, ignoring the honks from the other cars behind him and sped off towards Kaiba Corp.

Back at Kaiba Corp, Mokuba moaned as he slowly pushed himself to his feet and surveyed the situation around him. After Eric had pulled a gun and shot his brother, the security system and then his weapon had malfunctioned and went off, randomly trapping everyone inside and firing into the room. At first it only shot up the table they had all left, but when everyone realized they were trapped they had went into a panic and tried rushing towards other doors causing the system to react and began another round of firing. He had seen them trample his brother and had tried to push past them but had ended up getting knocked down himself. After that he didn't know really remember what else what happened. He felt very weak and tired though. He looked down and numbly realized that he was covered in blood but he didn't know if it was all his own. He lifted up his shirt and then threw up at the sight of the tiny whole in his side where a bullet had lodged. He surveyed the scene around him and saw Alister in a corner. He was physically unharmed but sitting down on the ground, his arms wrapped around his knees sobbing and muttering something in a language Mokuba didn't understand. He seemed to be having some kind of flashback or nervous breakdown, his brother's dyna guy action figure clutched in one hand. He turned glanced to his left and saw Eric Valkner's body lying face down on the ground near where his sister had fallen, judging by the pool of blood underneath his body he was probably dead. His eyes glanced towards Pegasus, who was staring up at the wall his breathing shallow and ragged. He had blood trickling out his mouth but he didn't appear to actually be shot. He noticed Moore's body next, slumped on the ground, a trail of blood on the door leading to him. He'd probably had his back pressed against the door when he died.

"Mister Kaiba." He heard, he turned and saw Ohhhira motioning towards him He appeared to be completely uninjured, hiding in a corner with the table flipped over. "Come here, now." He insisted. Mokuba glanced over at his brother, and saw him laying on the ground his eyes shut. He chose to crawl towards him instead, but Ohhira grabbed him and dragged him over to him anyway.

"If he is alive, it's best not move him." Ohhira said by way of explanation, pulling out a medical kit. Mokuba saw that Jackson, Warner and Thompson had also taken refuge. Thompson's body was slumped over and leaning against the wall, even though he didn't appear to be injured.

"Heart attack, I do believe." Warner said, noticing Mokuba's eyes. "I think he's still alive, but his pulse is as weak as your brother's was when we last checked. It's entirely possible they are both dead now. Either way, it's best not to move them. It's the only real hope we have left."

"Seto..." Mokuba sobbed. He cried out in pain as Warner quickly embraced him, as Ohhira used tweezers to fish out the bullet and toss it to the side.

"Bite this." Warner said, handing him the old wooden figurine Warner always kept in his pocket for luck. Mokuba placed it in his mouth and then cried out in pain again as he felt wiskey get poured on him from Ohhira's flask. Ohhira drank a little himself and put it in his pocket and then began sewing up the wound.

"How long was I out for?" Mokuba asked when the pain had finally subsided enough to form coherent thoughts. He tried to ignore the urge to run and grab his brother.

"Not every long, I think you got knocked down when the system began malfunctioning. I still don't understand what happened, it was inspected last week." Ohhira said quietly, wiping back a tear. Mokuba heard a banging on the door.

"Mokuba's waken up! Other than that no change!" Warner shouted.

"They are trying to contact the makers of the locking mechanism. Since it can't even be knocked down with a sledge hammer. Problem is they went out of business and we need the reset code." Ohhira explained.

"Where's Siegfried?" Mokuba suddenly remembered, "and my Aunt?"

"That crazy German bastard is trying to hack into the thing now. Your Aunt is helping him by holding the only working flashlight for him. He was the first one she woke up, she sewed up his wounds and told us what to do if you woke up." Ohhira explained. "Apparently shes a doctor now. She took charge of the situation very quickly, and we all have her to thank for being alive. It was her idea to flip the table, and she pulled as many of us underneath as we could."

"My Aunt is a doctor?" Mokuba said in surprise. He realized she must have stolen their inheritance to pay for medical school. He felt angry and confused and relieved all at the same time as this information.

"Yes, which is why I told you to leave your brother alone. She's done all we can for him here, now we need to get out of here and soon." Warner replied.

"I see..." Mokuba whispered quietly. Then he buried in head in his knees and began to sob. Their futures depended on their rival being able to hack into their security systems and his Aunt's medical skills that she stole from them to pay for.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kaiba looked around him. He was sitting on the ground, leaning on something that didn't really feel like it existed though the sensations on his back indicated otherwise. He wasn't wearing anything but a pair of snug white shorts but he didn't feel any of the usual embarrassment at being exposed. He felt strangely peaceful and calm, though he had no idea where he was. He was surrounded by an endless expanse of brightly lit,white nothingness.

"_Hello_!" He shouted, he heard his voice echo from a distance. Shrugging he sat back down, resting his head on his knees. He felt sleepy.

"_Seto, my love._" He heard a familiar voice call out to him. He looked up in shock and saw his mother and father standing before him. His mother was wearing an ethereal white dress and his father was wearing a white robe like that of the ancient Greeks.

"_M-mother_?" He asked in confusion.

"_Yes, my child._" She replied walking towards him. She stopped a few inches from him and placed a hand gently on his face, her hand felt impossibly warm and soft to the touch. He wrapped his arms around her and breathed in her scent, before breaking down and sobbing. He felt his father's arm wrap around his back and it made him sob even harder. The tears he had been holding back for years finally coming out in uncontrollable, heart wrenching sobs. Tears slid down his face and landed on the ground, where they splashed strangely into golden pools and then disappeared into nothingness. He didn't know how long they stayed liked this. It could have been a single moment, it could have been years. He couldn't really make heads nor tails of time, but it mattered very little. All of the memories of his part was flashing before his eyes, every moment, every decision flashing before him all at once.

* * *

"My brother is strong, he has to survive this." Mokuba said at last, pulling out his locket and staring at it.

"That's what is inside these?" Ohhira asked, glancing down at the picture of his brother. Mokuba nodded and showed the picture of his brother to Ohhira. "Was this taken at the orphanage then?" He asked quietly.

"Yes." Mokuba growled.

"But he looks so happy." Ohhira said, a frown forming on his features. "That place sounds awful."

"It was, but it wasn't all bad. I think I preferred it there actually." Mokuba replied. "Back then, Big brother knew how to smile."

"How can he smile in a situation like that?" Ohhira questioned, "And then be in forever a bad mood now."

"Maybe if you people weren't so incompetent, he'd be in a better one." Mokuba snapped.

"I'm good at what I do, which is why Mr. Kaiba did not fire us which I was sure would happen if we lost here." Warner growled in reply.

"Heh, well if he doesn't survive you can't bet that you will be." Mokuba replied angrily, glaring up at them. "I don't know where you guys got off siding with someone who was trying to harm our company..."

"There you go with that our business again. This company is more than just you and your brother." Ohhira snapped at last. "I work tirelessly too, I've put more money into this company that you have Mokuba. But I don't get any respect. He comes and goes on these tournaments as he pleases. We'll tell him we need him here, and he won't come just because he was told to come back. Just because he owns the majority of the shares. It doesn't matter if Paradis is taking over, so long as he we don't tell him what to do. He's rude and he never listens to anyone elses ideas. Didn't the last financial board member kill himself because your brother continuously rejected all of his suggestions even though he supported the change from arms to gaming?" Ohhira questioned. Mokuba eyes softened and he stared at the picture again. Crump had sided with the rest of the board after his brother had been especially cruel in his dismissal of a penguin themed area at Kaiba Land. It wasn't even that ridiculous of a suggestion. Sometimes he wondered if Crump would have been an ally and told them what the rest of the board had intended to do if his brother hadn't belittled him so often. They all had at one point, helped him overthrow Gozaboro after all. Without them, his brother wouldn't be in the position he was in. Not that it excused their betrayal or subsequent actions. They had gotten what they deserved in the end, but he still couldn't help but wonder.

"I know my brother can be hard to work with sometimes," Mokuba admitted at last. "But that doesn't excuse your behavior. If you hadn't sided with the Valkners, perhaps we could have found a better solution than what happened here today."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." Ohhira growled at last, "If I didn't have so much money riding on your brother I would have cut and run long ago. Don't think I won't stop trying to get some control over him. He's not a king, this is a business we are all supposed to be working together to maintain. I won't more responsibilities instead of him doing everything. I want my ideas heard. I want to get my way sometimes, and I won't stop until I make that a reality." Ohhira declared.

"Well said." Warner agreed. Mokuba frowned.

"My brother isn't used to trusting others, and you guys don't exactly make it easy to do so. Why should he trust you when your pulling stunts like this?" Mokuba snapped, turning towards them. "You get what you deserve."

"It's not like things started this way. And so what if he was an orphan, a lot of people were and don't grow up to act like him. He's luckier than most even if he didn't have the most food there. He was adopted by Gozaboro Kaiba and groomed to be his heir. Gozaboro must have been a great father judging by your demeanor. And now he's rich and powerful and famous. He's one of the lucky ones." Ohhira growled. Mokuba's eyes softened and he shook his head.

"I suppose, since you guys are now under gag order and can never talk about or reveal anything about my brother's personal life, I can tell you the truth about that. The truth is, our life with Gozaboro was the opposite of what you would expect, of what we expected. He kept me separate from my brother all the time, my brother wasn't allowed to play or have fun or have friends or do any of things that children should be able to do. The only game he had I smuggled into to him, which was a few duel monsters cards including a blue eyes white dragon what I hand drew him. Instead of playing, he was forced to study for hours on end. He was lucky if he got a three hours of sleep a night, often he went without any at all. To ensure he didn't try to sneak off and play, he was forced to wear a dog collar was literally chained to his desk during lessons. If he made a single mistake, he was beaten with a whip." Mokuba explained.

"Then the scar removal plastic surgery he had, wasn't to get rid of scars he obtained when he was kidnapped?" Ohhira asked. Mokuba shook his head.

"Gozaboro did that to him. The last person he really trusted, was Gozaboro. After that, he hasn't been able to trust anyone. And you all certainly didn't help matters with this little stunt." Mokuba growled. "He isn't doing everything himself because he loves to undermine you, he's doing it all himself because just wants to make sure everything is being done right. Because nobody is going to be as slavishly devoted to not making mistakes as he is, because no one else has a phobia of making them. He figures as long as he makes you money, you should be glad that he is willing to work so hard. Besides that, he's worked to hard on this company to let someone else call the shots."

"I see..." Warner replied, glancing over at Kaiba's still form. "Well, all that aside we still deserve better treatment, and if he is unable to provide it and work with us we're going to have to force him whether he likes it or not."

"I would seriously seek employment elsewhere if you really think that's ever going to change. Seto is Seto, he's not perfect but this company is his baby and he's going to be the reason it sinks or swims." Mokuba shrugged. "Only a Kaiba is allowed to be chairman, and if you really think I'm going to be any different than he is should you cause him harm, you got another thing coming to you." Mokuba declared, glaring at them. Ohhira frowned and rest his head against a wall.

"What have I gotten myself into?" He complained aloud.

"Got it!" Siegfried declared loudly, as the doors finally opened up. The paramedics rushed into the room the second the door opened.

* * *

Kaiba pulled away from his mother and father and leaned against the wall of the room as another realization dawned at him.

"_Does this mean that I'm dead_?" He asked, he was a little surprised to note that the idea of it didn't bother him as much it probably should have. In fact, he felt a little relieved. He was so tired.

"_Not yet._" His mother answered. "_You are close my son, but you have not moved on to the afterlife yet_. "

"_Then why are you here_?" Kaiba asked, frowning.

"_When you are close, loved ones come to greet you to encourage you to fight for your life if it's still possible or to welcome and ease you into this next life, if that there isn't a chance for survival._" His father answered.

"_Then why are you here_?" Kaiba asked again, suddenly remembering his talk with his Aunt. "_If it's supposed to be a loved one._"

"_We love you very much._" His mother replied as if the answer should have been obvious.

"_Then why did you abandon me_?" Kaiba said, a tear rolling down his face. "_And why were you going to give me up even before your death? I tried my best to be a good son. Why wasn't that enough for you? What wasn't I enough for you? I tried so hard. I loved you so much._"

"_Seto, my son, I didn't abandon you._" His mother insisted. "_The truth of the matter is, that I loved you very much. I made the decision to have Mokuba because I wasn't supposed to survive your birth either, but I did. It was arrogance that lead to my death, my own. It wasn't your fault and it wasn't Mokuba's fault. I know you both have struggled with that, but it's not true._" His mother said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"_Same here, son. I thought I could save that girl and outrun the vehicle. I didn't think it would hit me instead. It was stupid pride that got me killed, thinking I could be a hero and save the day. You did nothing wrong and you shouldn't blame yourself for my death either._" His father nodded.

"_If you loved me so much, then why were you going to give me away? Why was Mokuba going to be a fresh start?_" Kaiba asked, pointing an accusatory finger at them.

"_I could haunt my sister..._" Kaiba's mother said sadly, placing a hand on her hip. "_The truth is that you witnessed some things you shouldn't have had to witness as a baby, for example getting fed chicken fingers in the back room while I applied to be a stripper at another bar. We thought it might have been why you were so tough and irritable. Your father and I thought that maybe Mokuba wouldn't have to witness those things and that he would be sweeter. Maybe taking care of him would be a good influence on you. It wasn't because you were unloved._" His mother explained.

"_As for the adoption, that was my idea. I thought that maybe you would be better off with a family who could afford to give you all the things that you deserved. You even had a sleepover with a prospective parent. But after just one night without you, one night where you weren't my son, I wanted to hang myself. I couldn't bare to be apart from you. I loved you far too much. So I selfishly called it off, even though they would have provided you a safe home where you could have learned just as much as you did with that monster without the abuse._" His father finished. "_I just couldn't do it though. Your mother __and I were selfish people sometimes, and we couldn't bear to be apart from you. We loved you too much. So we did what was best for us, not you and it's honestly the only regret I have about my old life. If I had known you would end up in someone else's home anyway, I would have made sure it was a good one. The one you deserved._"

"_The only regret? But you were a bouncer after dropping out of school. Your life was nothing but one tragedy after the next._" Kaiba said softly.

"_I agree with your father though._" His mother said, "_Even though at first I was unhappy with my life. Because being a stripper and prostitute brought me a lot of hardships. I was attacked, sometimes men forced themselves on me, and for a brief period I was even addicted to drugs. But I wouldn't change a single moment of my life, save that one. Because, if I did, I wouldn't have met Fuwa. And I wouldn't have met your father or had you. I'd endure even the greatest hardships a thousand times over with glee, just for your safety son. You are the greatest thing to ever happen to me. You were worth all of it._"

"_I'm actually quite happy with the way my lifed turned out._" His father agreed. "_As far as I'm concerned, I left the world a better place than it started. Your mother and I lived lives of value to society. Because your mother and I had you for a son._"

Kaiba grew silent for a moment, and then buried his face in his knees and began to cry again. This time though, it was tears of happiness. He felt a great weight get pulled off his shoulders and he hadn't remembered being so happy in a very long time.

* * *

"Follow that ambulance." Tea insisted as Joey pulled up to Kaiba Corp.

"How do you know he's in that one?" Joey asked.

"I can just feel it." Tea replied. Joey shrugged and made note of the hospital it was going to.

"I know a shortcut to that hospital." Mai said, glancing over at it. "Joey, switch seats with me." Joey pulled over and the two quickly switched seats, and Mai turned off into a side road. Only to reach a bunch of traffic.

"Damn it!" She yelled, honking her horn at the cars. "Move it!" She yelled at them.

"Shut up lady!" Someone yelled back.

"You kiss your mother with that mouth?"She shouted in reply, before poking her head back in the car.

"What if he doesn't want to see me?" Tea said quietly, biting her lower lip.

"Then we'll mug some nurse for her uniform and see him anyway." Rebecca grinned. "Besides, I'm sure Mokuba will still see you even if Kaiba refuses."

"I hope it's that easy..." Tea said wistfully, placing a hand on her chin and looking out the window. "But I doubt it will be. I'd understand if it wasn't. What I did isn't something thats really forgivable. I just want to know if he's okay. Then if he doesn't want to see me, we'll know he's okay because he can talk enough to refuse visitors. We'll just leave if that happens. I'm not trying to make things more difficult for him."

"Tea, we all make mistakes and you've forgiven him for much worse. Remember Death-T?" Joey said, lighting a cigarette to calm his nerves.

"That's different." Tea said, shaking her head. "He was mentally ill, and it took a shadow game to cure him of that mental illness. Nothing in our modern society could have. I won't hold that against him."

"Then what about Duelist kingdom. That little stunt he pulled on Yugi."

"He was desperate." Tea replied. "I looked at his duel disk afterwards. He had a negate attack in his deck, he didn't have to risk his life. He wasn't thinking clearly."

"That don't make up for what he did. That just makes it worse, as far as I"m concerned." Joey growled. "I bet he was just playing mind games to get off on it."

"I think he was just scared he was going to lose his brother, and forgot it was there. It looked like he freaked out when his blue eyes started melting. It was like watching someone getting a penalty game being placed on them, the way his eyes looked. That's why I had to stop Atem. I couldn't let him go through with it, I couldn't watch a life slip through our fingers when we had a chance to stop it."

"Yeah, well his little stunt could have cost Yugi's grandpas life."

"I always knew Yugi would find a way into Pegasus's castle. I believed in him. I believe in all my friends." Tea explained, glancing out the window. "And I don't believe Kaiba was thinking clearly when he did that, even though I was probably the one of the angriest one of us all at him for doing such a thing. I wanted to slap him for doing such a thing to Yugi" Tea reasoned, "And for placing so little value on his own life. To play with it like it's just another card..."

"Well at Battle City..." Joey began.

"He saved my life." She finished. Joey ran a hand through his hair in frustration. It was the truth really, for some reason Tea had always gotten a lot further with Kaiba than the rest of them had. She was able to yell at him without him trying to humiliate her, and he stopped and listened to whatever she had to say. Even if he did just mock friendship afterwards. It was further than the rest of them had gotten, save for Yugi.

"Heh, I guess he was more cruel to Yugi and I than he was to you. But still, the guy was a creep back in the day and you forgave him. As far as I'm concerned, he owes you one." Joey said at last, blowing rings of smoke in the air to distract himself from the gravity of the situation.

"Thanks Joey, but I'm the one who owes him. A real apology. If nothing else, I hope I can tell him that." Tea replied, sighing sadly.

* * *

"_Which one are you here to do._" Kaiba said at last, picking at the hem of his mother's dress. He was resting his head on mother's shoulder, while he dad rubbed soothing circles on his back. They had sat down next to him.

"_We want you to fight for your life son._" His father answered easily. "_When you hear the doctors voice, run to it. You won't have a very long window of opportunity._"

"_What if I don't want to live?_" Kaiba sighed, "_I'm so tired. Nobody loves me back there, and I'm just tired of fighting._" He admitted. It was weird pouring out all of his emotions here, but it was impossible to hold even the smallest one back even with his herculean strength when it came to holding back emotion.

"_That's not true. You have friends there, friends whose worry I can sense. Mokuba loves you very much as well, as does that cute girl you've been seeing. I can sense her beating herself up as we speak, shes extremely depressed despite being a normally very bubbly personality._" His mother laughed.

"_Yugi would get over it, he's lost closer. And Mokuba and Tea betrayed me. The only people in the entire world I was supposed to be able to trust._" Kaiba replied, unable to help the tear that rolled down his cheek. His father quickly wiped it away.

"_Seto, you've done some pretty bad things to Mokuba too. The experience of death? That was pretty cruel. Much worse than just sleeping with a girl you both happen to like. And he forgave you._" His father chastised.

"_But I don't understand how._" Kaiba said, knitting his brow in confusion.

"_Well, I will say this. In normal circumstances, I would not forgive someone who did what they did to you. In most cases, that person deserves to be kicked to the curb and I'm very glad I dumped the sacks of garbage who cheated on me._" His mother explained "_But you two aren't most people. You never have been. The supernatural has surrounded you two and bonded you three together in a way that is literally not possible for anyone else on Earth except you and Yugi's group. Those who deal with the supernatural are bound together with a secret they cannot share with anyone. They are heros are the rest of the world doesn't even know it._" .

"_And Mokuba was kidnapped with Tea, those two share a bond that is stronger than glue. Mokuba confused that with romantic love and made a huge mistake. A mistake he understands was wrong and desperately wants to make it up to you for. The girl is the same._" His father added.

"_If you go back, you'd be well within your rights to never forgive them. But sometimes, because you love someone. Because having that person in your life is more important than being right, you can forgive them. It wouldn't be easy, and it would take a long time to rebuild trust. But with hard work, you can try to salvage the relationship. It's up to you to determine if that's what's right for you. Do what's best for you, my son._" His mother finished, squeezing his shoulder. Kaiba nodded, and sighed.

"_I suppose the best things that have come to me in that world have all required hard work to obtain._" Kaiba reasoned, "_And I do still love them despite knowing that I shouldn't. But...i'm just so tired of fighting for everything._"

"_Then let others take on some of the burden for you. You don't have to do everything yourself, son._" His father said, smiling at him. "_I had to learn that lesson the hard way too. But trust me, if you open your heart and let love in it will be the greatest thing you ever do._"

"_Besides, we have never left your side son. We'll always be watching you, and we'll always love you so don't go around thinking nobody does._" His mother chastised, playfully swatting him the arm.

"_Alright. Then can I ask you one thing. If you see Gozaboro, can you let him know I never meant for him to die._" Kaiba requested. His mother frowned.

"_That evil jerk hasn't passed on yet, he's still trapped in the place between life and death unable to move because his data is stored on some island somewhere or something. I'd be highly surprised if he got sorted to the same place we are._" She explained. Kaiba thought about this for a moment.

"_I'd still want him to know, if he you see him in this holding place that we're in now. I may have hated him, but only because of the way he treated me. I didn't want him to die, and I didn't take his company over for that. I took it over because I wanted a new life, one that involve me getting abused. I regret that he thought it meant he had to die. I would have liked the opportunity to start over and come to love him. But what he did was unacceptable and I wouldn't change what I did if I could. I couldn't let him hurt me anymore._" Kaiba said thoughtfully, he felt another weight get lifted off his shoulders as another regret flew away.

"_And I regret my actions that caused that guy who I threatened to destroy his business if he didn't give me the blue eyes white dragon to commit suicide. I shouldn't have done that and if I had known that the mafia would burn down his house instead of a picture as a warning, I never would have done it. I didn't mean for him to die, and I'm sorry about that too._" He confessed again, "_And for all the other people I hurt on my quest to power. If you see any of them, please let them know that I'm sorry._" He felt the last of his regrets melt away and he suddenly felt lighter on his feet. His mother and father smiled at each other and then at him.

"_I think you'll be fast enough now to be at peace. I think you'll be strong enough now to make it._" His father grinned. "_Please go on and live for us my son. We're rooting on you and hoping for your success. And remember, no matter what you become, we're proud of you._"

"_We love you so much!_" His mother agreed, when suddenly Kaiba heard the sounds of the hospital staff.

"Come on you arrogant bastard, don't die on me." He heard the doctor's voice echo throughout the strange room.

"_I guess that's my cue. I love you!_" Kaiba said quickly, hugging them one last time. He lingered for just a moment before rushing towards the door way that spilled out impossibly more light into the room. He ran as fast he can, when he saw the door start shutting on him. He looked back one last time at his mother and father's form, before bursting through the door. He suddenly felt himself falling and let out a soundless yell of surprise before everything faded from sight again.

* * *

Mokuba bit his lip as he paced back and forth in the private hospital room they had given him. When he saw the doctor come in.

"How are you feeling?" The doctor asked him, taking his pulse.

"I'm fine! How's my brother?" He snapped.

"I'm your doctor, not his. You'll have to be patient, we're doing everything we can." She replied, writing some information on her clipboard. "You have some visitors, would you like to see them?" She asked. Mokuba nodded and he saw Tea, Joey, Rebecca and Mai come into the room.

"I'm so glad your okay!" Tea exclaimed, hugging him tightly. Mokuba sighed, pulling away. She wasn't his girl anymore, he reminded himself.

"Thank you." He said, as he felt Joey suddenly give him a bear hug next. Mokuba rolled his eyes as Joey pulled away.

"Man, I'm glad your okay!" Joey said, rubbing his hair. He looked over and saw Mokuba had a tray of untouched food. "Aren't you going to eat that?" He asked.

"No..." Mokuba replied, watching as Joey grabbed his jello and took a seat. "Man, I always get so hungry when I'm nervous."

"Your always hungry. Your stomach is like a never ending black hole." Mai admonished, shaking her head. She turned towards Mokuba.

"How's your brother hun?" She asked. Mokuba shrugged bitterly, and Tea fell backwards. Rebecca quickly placed a chair behind her so she fell into the chair instead of on the ground. Before Mokuba explained, the doctor walked in with a smile on his face.

"I have some good news for you." He said, glancing at Mokuba and then at his visitors. "Would you like for me to speak to you in private?"

"No, here is fine. They are his visitors too." Mokuba replied.

"Very well. Your brother is now in stable condition." The doctor began, Mokuba released a breath he didn't know he was holding and Tea cried out in relief. Joey cheered and while Mai and Rebecca collapsed into chairs with smiles on their faces. They had been trying to be strong for their loved ones, but the truth was that they had been worried too despite not knowing Kaiba that well. They were glad that maybe now they would get the chance to know him better, seeing how important he was to their friends.

"That's great news doc, where is he?" Mokuba asked.

"Well, hes in ICU right now, but we should be able to move him here pretty soon. I do want to warn you though that he did actually die on the operating room table but we were able to resuscitate him. He's going to have to take it easy for a while. He was shot in the chest after all. The hardest part is over though and we're hopeful he'll make a full recovery." The doctor explained. He left the room and Mokuba sighed in relief, wiping away of tear of happiness. He looked over at Joey who he saw crying too and realized their wasn't a dry eye in the room.

"Well, now that I know he's okay. I guess I'll go. I don't want to upset him." Tea began, getting up.

"Tea stay, please." Mokuba said, grabbing her by the hand. "I could really use a friend right now, and you probably won't get another chance to make things right with my brother. Nobody carries a grudge better than him." Mokuba laughed.

"All right then." Tea agreed, biting her lip nervously.

"Don't worry Tea, money bags is strong. I swear that bastard has nine lives or something." Joey said, patting her roughly on the back. Tea nodded.

"Yeah, it's one of the things that I love about him." She agreed, smiling softly.


End file.
